We wondered. So, we made one. And now we want to share it.

By collecting social media statistics from some of the main social media outlets – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube – and comparing the numbers, you can view a snapshot of what is happening in each outlet and determine if you should optimize your presence in that space. These stats can also help with providing an understanding of your goals for each outlet and some of the more effective strategies that will produce the needed results.

To help you visualize, we’ve taken the guesswork out of finding the statistics, and compiled them in a tidy, convenient infographic, perfect for sharing.  Take a look, and check out the information.

Here is an overview of some of the interesting stats we pulled together:

• Facebook has the largest amount of users with 1.06 billion, but YouTube is following closely with one billion
• Facebook has over 1.13 trillion likes and YouTube has one trillion video views
• Instragram has twice as many users than Pinterest and a collection of over 4 billion photos
• Each day, SM users like 2.7 billion things, tweet 400 million times, post 40 million photos, and upload 8 years of video
• Facebook employs the most with 4,619 employees and Instagram only had about 13 when it was purchased from Facebook

These stats are just some of the data we can collect about the social media outlets and actions of users (an infographic of all the stats would require days of scrolling!).

Have you found other outlet stats that have been useful when planning, implementing, and/or managing your social media campaigns? If so, please share them in the comments below and be sure to link to any useful sites that help with researching the information.

Oh, and share…and join us at the next Social Media Strategies Summit in NYC on June 12-13, 2013!

I had the pleasure of interviewing Kevin and learning more about how Caterpillar’s social strategy has proved to be a great success.

[J] What is the number one consideration when planning a social media strategy? 

Kevin Espinosa, Caterpillar, Inc.

[K] A company’s social media strategy must meet THEIR business needs. Too many times a company using a generic social media strategy and they don’t align with what the business is trying to accomplish.

[J] What’s the main difference between building a social media strategy for B2B as opposed to B2C? 
[K] Not as much as people think. Business is a people to people business and what we try to do is build customer relationships with social media. The main difference is aligning our efforts throughout the entire enterprise…Caterpillar Inc and our Dealers.

[J] What has been Caterpillar’s biggest social media success?  
[K] We have been very successful in integrating our existing processes with social media. This has enabled us to integrate our customer facing channels. An example of this is that our Customer Interaction Center (Call Center) is integrated with our social media efforts. When an inquiry comes into any of our social media channels it is handled by them just like the phone is ringing and goes directed into their Salesforce.com queue.

[J] What has been Caterpillar’s biggest social media challenge? 
[K] I think our biggest challenge is ahead of us and that is scale. We need to replicate our successes across all of our business units, product groups, and Dealers. We will have to arm them with all the resources to be successful and training and education will play a big role.

[J] What do you see as the future of Caterpillar’s digital footprint?  
[K] We need to understand all aspects of our customers and potential customers. For instance, when somebody “likes” a post what do we do next? We need to understand how to market to them intelligently across all of our channels so we can move them to the sales funnel the way they would like to be. This isn’t going to be easy.

The weather wasn’t beautiful, but the energy inside the Chicago Hard Rock Hotel was amazing. On the second floor of the hotel, GSMI hosted the Social Media Strategies Summit – Chicago.

With a packed house both days, the event kicked off with two rooms full of eager eyes and wondering minds, ready to learn and network.

Presenters, Elly Deutch and Adele Cehrs, got things rolling with their workshops dedicated to building social strategies and using social media in crisis situations. Those workshops were followed by Jen Cohen Crompton (me) presenting on How to Create Meaningful Engagements and  Glenn Selig on writing socially optimized news releases (you can check out the example they finished during the session here).

After lunch, keynote speaker, Umang Shah of Walmart, engaged the packed Fender ballroom by spilling the beans on Walmart’s goals and strategies of their social plan (email still is key for them), and discussing the importance of using data (with human analysis) to figure out how to “get it right.”

Other Day 1 sessions included a presentation by Jim Newcomb on Boeing’s content strategy and Jennifer Dominiquini who discussed integrating social and reviewed case studies from Sears and KMart (which included justification for KMart’s recently launched “Ship My Pants” campaign).

The afternoon came to a close with presentation on using LinkedIn effectively, social/legal considerations, social business transformations, and the convergence of TV and social media presented by TV Guide.

After day one concluded, the real fun began with the networking reception. The reception, compliments of Engage Sciences, offered attendees a chance to relax after a long day, as well as engage with speakers and fellow attendees alike while enjoying some good drinks, good food and great networking.

Another great recap of SMSS Chicago day 1 was posted by our partners at WOMMA, you can check it out here

Day two kicked off with an energetic presentation from Wildfire, a division of Google, which featured Maya Grinberg and her thoughts on the Road to ROI (doesn’t every social media professional want to answer that question?). Following was a panel of experts from Lungevity, Klout, and DigiTour Media and moderated by R/GA, which discussed best practices across all platforms.

At lunch, attendees were able to get a LinkedIn makeover from Integrated Alliances, learn about metrics from Radious and Unmetric and best practices from Anametrix.

Travis Wright kicked off the social platforms track with a hilarious presentation about Twitter, which was followed with Pinleague’s founder, Daniel Maloney who helped educate attendees on how to get the most out of their Pinterest efforts.

The internal collaboration track in the Gibson ballroom featured AmFam Insurance discussing earned, paid and owned media, and Liz Bullock of Dell discussed creating and getting the most out of employee brand ambassadors. Another audience pleasing performance from Jason Moriber of Weber Shandwick NYC discussed metrics, which was followed by SAP discussing the “art of social listening.”

Facebook’s Jonathan Stringfield reviewed an intriguing case study of Facebook, and the closing keynote was Shani Higgins, the CEO of Technorati.

…and every attendee walked away with their head-spinning, but couldn’t stop tweeting about the exceptional speakers and great contacts they were able to make at the event. Great job to all the speakers, sponsors, and the always impressive attendees, who really make the atmosphere enjoyable.

Up next, the Social Media Strategies Summit NYC!

With all social media efforts, it can be difficult to ensure you and your team are focusing on each outlet effectively and maintaining your efforts. Since maintenance is key, we’ve designed a Social Media Checklist that you should use when venturing into the space…and keep it nearby always!

The checklist covers the main outlets – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube and Blogging. Since you may use one of these, many of these, or all of these outlets, take a look at what our social media experts suggest to be sure you are doing everything you need to on a daily basis to keep your outreach on point.

In addition, here are a few other tips for effective social media management:

• Dedicate a certain amount of time each day to maintaining each outlet
• Be sure analytics are a part of your strategy so you can measure what is happening in each space
• Dedicate time to both the company social media outlets and personal (or C-Level executives if they aren’t doing it on their own)
• BE RELEVANT – this cannot be stressed enough
• Be timely so you aren’t adding “old news” when there is more appropriate “new news”
• Know who has access to your social media accounts to avoid missteps
• Automatically schedule some updates, but keep an eye on them

Using the checklist and keeping those eight tips in mind will definitely keep you on course!

Oh and if you miss the Social Media Strategies Summit in Chicago, GSMI will be hosting a few more this year – NYC in June, Dallas in August, Boston in September, and San Francisco in November. All summits are equally stimulating and exciting with the highest caliber of speakers, but all are different and there’s always something new to be learned!

Within months, Pinterest has grown from a site used by few, to a site used by many (approximately 10 million a week)…and with the masses come the companies. So what are companies doing on Pinterest? Companies are using the boards to continue creating a visual personality and a way to drive the “viral conversation.” Coca-cola uses their Pinterest account to help promote their recent campaign and provide snapshots of living – loosely related back to their 1979 slogan, “Have a Coke and a Smile.” Southwest Airlines is there, using their pins to show party ideas, feature planes and employees, and provide window seat views, vintage ads and quotes. The LUV airline makes flying “fun” and Pinterest has a lot of potential to reinforce their brand.

So they are there, but why should we pin? Here are a two ways businesses and individuals can use Pinterest.

Create a Visual Personality:

It relates back to the reason companies are using social media in the first place – to be human and create interactions. Pinterest provides a place where people and companies can visually showcase their values, mission, and interests, and create a depiction of “who they really are” and “what they really care about.” People can browse through others’ pins to find ideas, get inspiration and learn. We are becoming a more visually-driven society and can consume images quicker than reading text.

Pins Can Be Sales:

How about Modcloth – the company forging ahead in the social media space and growing their sales rapidly – using the site to share their products and style? Their Pinterest presence is unique, true to their brand, and allows them to showcase their products beyond what you see on the website. And of course, all products from the site are linked back to modcloth.com or their Polyvore page (fashion collage-making site). The pins from Modcloth and the followers who repin their pins, can absolutely turn into dollars. For individuals – do you have a craft? Do you knit scarves and want people to buy them? Are you an amazing wedding photographer and want people to see your art? Why not pin? Why not let the world see your ideas to learn more about you and want what you can provide?

Pinterest will continue growing and increasing its influence, so companies will absolutely continue to leverage the platform. The visual draw of the site makes it easy to use, share and enjoy. So, if you’re not pinning, maybe you should start!

I pin

Let’s explore three ways social media has helped “level the playing field.”

1. Humanizing Brands -

Social media allows everyone to get into the same space, no matter the size. Everyone can have a powerful Facebook page (some might be better than others), but the pages occupy the same amount of space and have the same basic functionalities. You can be a small shop with limited funds, but still have a great page. Or you can be a huge brand with a great page and a few more engaging opportunities. This social presence has allowed brands to show their “personality” and field questions with answers coming from a “human.”

2. Increasing Engagement -

A social presence allows all brands, regardless of size, to communicate on an intimate level and interact with customers beyond the phone or face-to-face. The is something, which only small brands could do effectively in the past. Big brands didn’t have the right outlets to provide one-on-one communication unless a customer picked up the phone or sent an email. On the flipside, small businesses do not need extensive call rooms or multiple phone numbers to interact, and can field customer service issues through social media channels.

3. Overall Reach -

In the past, a company might have to make a huge online or traditional ad buy to capture a large audience. In reality, the approach was much less targeted and it was a challenge to ensure the right people were getting the blanket message. Thanks to social media, companies with small budgets have the ability to reach a couple hundred people with a mere 140 characters and without spending a penny. The message can also be targeted, timely, and tracked. For large companies, this approach encourages tracking of large online and traditional media buys by driving traffic to social sites and prolonging engagement. In either case, the use of social has expanded, streamlined, and encouraged tracking for all companies in the space.

Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or any other outlet, social media is a proven business tool and brings the business world to a level playing field where all businesses are given the an equal opportunity to thrive. That’s why we are so intrigued by social – everyone can play!

Interested in learning more about how social media marketing can give your business a cutting edge? Check out the Social Media Strategies Summit in Boston September 20-22, 2011

1. Do everything possible to prevent it from happening. As already noted, these actions seem to be the result of a mix of carelessness and human error, so this is difficult to accomplish. Technology will get you at one point or another, so it is understandable that these things happen. However, if there is going to post something that walks the line of appropriate vs. inappropriate, it is very important to be sure the tweet or update is coming from the correct account. Stress this fact as much as possible and cross your fingers it doesn’t happen.

2. Be ready and have a sense of humor. When you think about it, if it isn’t a security breach or a leak of confidential information, the slip up might just be funny. If it is, play it up. In these situations, humor is your best friend and the best way to encourage the public to forgive you. If it isn’t already funny, make it funny. Companies poking fun at their own mistakes are relateable and perceived as more trustworthy.

3. Don’t try to hide it. Remember, social media is about transparency! Oh and if a company posts something and it stays up for longer than three seconds, someone has probably already taken a screenshot as indestructible evidence and the company is caught red-handed. Trying to cover up or hide something like this is useless, and the cover-up will receive more backlash for the dishonesty than by owning up to the mistake. Check out Chrysler’s blog post response to the tweet and the fact that the person who tweeted was fired.

4. Respond through social media. The slip up happened through social media and those are the people who are interested and waiting to find out what is going to happen, so let them be the first to know. Post a response on the same outlet where the slip up happened, then spread the information out through the other outlets. Do this simultaneously and as quickly as possible.

Moral of the story: It could happen. Be prepared, take responsibility, and take action.

1. Does your company have a very limited audience? If your company, product or service has less than five customers, you might want to skip over social media. The reason is, if you have a limited audience and limited budget, other marketing strategies might give you a bigger bang for your buck. Try alternative strategies such as phone calls, in-person meetings, or direct mail efforts to your limited audience because these are more intimate efforts and could provide a bigger return on your marketing dollars.

2. Does your audience have restricted access to social media sites? If a high percentage of your target audience sits behind a firewall during work hours, you might want to consider another source for educating. Although many companies are allowing their employees to freely surf the ‘net, some companies still have restrictions based on privacy and because they own a great deal of confidential information. Do your research and find out if this is a barrier.

3. Do you have an internal advocate who will push for social media and can be your resource? You really need someone who is your internal social media enthusiast and can make a case for its use. This person doesn’t have to know everything about social media, but they should want to do it, have the energy to advocate for it, and understand the use. If your company lacks at least one internal advocate, any efforts put forth will most likely fall flat.

4. Is your social media goal to generate short-term sales? If your social media goal is to increase your bottom line in a instant, you are going to fail. If that is your immediate need, then use another marketing method. Social media is based on building relationships, building trust, and fostering engagements. Sales will come with proper execution of a social media strategy, but again, it takes some time to build those efforts and show a direct return.

5. Do you have the resources? Whether you decide to outsource your social media campaigns or execute in-house, you must be sure you have the resources to get the job done. The worst social media efforts are those that start strong, and take a huge noise dive because the resources aren’t there for continued support. Be sure you have the resources in place before you get out there and start updating, tweeting, or blogging.

Use these questions as a guiding force to determine if social media is right for your company, and if this is the time to get out there and get social.

Social media policies are popping up all over. The common complaint I hear is that employees don’t understand why they must always be associated with their “daytime” identities. Most employees think, “I am who I am, I am not what I do,” but that is something we perceive as true, but isn’t in the days of technology. We are who we are, all day long.

From an employer standpoint, employers aren’t sure what they can do and how to regulate the “Wild Web” and what people to choose to do during their off time. Well, employers need to step up and put a policy in place to be sure to address the issue, ensure their employees understand, and prevent anything that could happen.

So what is the point? The point is, be smart. Be a smart employee and know the difference between your right (to free speech) and what is right (from a moral standpoint). From an employer standpoint, get a social media policy, make it good, and make sure it is understood.