Alinean Research Reveals Only Select Fortune 500 Industries Mastering Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 14, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Alinean, the leading creator of value-based interactive sales and marketing tools for B2B vendors, today released the first of a series of research projects seeking to understand the return on investment (ROI) of Social Media. The Alinean ROI experts analyzed which of the Fortune 500 and industries were the most popular, and what factors led to this popularity. The findings highlight distinct differences in popularity based on company practices and customer profiles, with many companies and industries displaying an enormous leverage of social media over peers. As social media grows in use, promotional power and business value, the most popular social media companies will have a distinct competitive advantage in revenue generation, marketing efficiency and return on marketing.

Specifically, the study found the most popular companies overall are centered in a few industries including High Technology, Consumer Products, Retail, Travel, Media and Entertainment, Hospitality and Automotive. While, industries with the least overall social media popularity include Energy, Utilities, Wholesale & Distribution, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals and Professional Services/Service Providers.

"The difference between most and least popular industries is dramatic, with the most popular industries being over 1,000 times as popular," said Tom Pisello, Chairman and Founder of Alinean. "Within different industries, performance of individual companies is even more dramatic, showing the maturity and investment payoff of certain companies versus others, and how far behind many individual companies are from the leaders."

Examining the reasons for popularity, the study highlights five important factors for social media popularity:

1. Important and timely content marketing to support social media collaboration, including the development and communication of breaking news, blogs, reviews, thought provoking points of view, research and entertainment;

2. An interactive dialogue with an active and engaged user base, with monitors and representatives responding to/collaborating with participants on a timely and personal basis;

3. Special deals, discounts, contests and giveaways to promote, targeting frugal business and consumer buyers who are seeking the lowest price, fastest payback and best value from every purchase in this current "age of austerity" (a condition Alinean calls Frugalnomics);

4. A strong and passionate "lifestyle" brand connection to its user base;

5. A natural demographic alignment with social media participants.

The full research white paper can be found at: http://www.alinean.com/docs/Alinean_Social_Media_by_Industry.pdf

About Alinean

Alinean, the leading provider of dynamic sales and marketing tools, empowers B2B vendors to better sell to today's economic-focused buyer. Alinean-powered interactive white papers, assessments, ROI calculators and TCO comparison tools create more compelling value-based connections, workshops, presentations and proposals - delivering customized diagnostics, benchmarks, solution recommendations, benefits, investments, ROI, payback and TCO advantage proof points.

Leading B2B firms leveraging Alinean tools include: HP, IBM, Microsoft, EMC, Dell, Intel, IDC / IDG, AT&T, Siemens, Unisys, Thomson Reuters, NetApp, Citrix, Symantec, Novell, Cisco, Oracle, Sybase, and CA.

Learn more at the Fight Frugalnomics™ Resource Center http://www.fightfrugalnomics.com, or by visiting http://www.alinean.com, or calling 407.382.0005.

Alinean, XcelLive and the Alinean logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Alinean, Inc. Other Alinean product or service names or logos herein are trademarks of Alinean, Inc. All other products, services and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Alinean

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