Quarter of top Yorkshire firms ignoring social media – new report

More than a quarter of Yorkshire’s top companies are excluding social media from their current marketing strategies, a new research report from Leeds PR and social media agency Aberfield Communications reveals.

Of the region’s 150 biggest businesses, 29 per cent have no social media presence and a further 10 per cent are limiting their marketing efforts to Twitter.

According to the ‘Social Yorkshire’ report, just four out of ten (42 per cent) of the region’s top firms have an official Facebook page, and only five per cent are actively using YouTube to promote their businesses and brands.

The report also reveals that when it comes to Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+, Yorkshire companies are way behind the rest of the UK.

While 42 per cent of Yorkshire’s biggest firms have an official Facebook page, the UK total is 61 per cent. Yorkshire businesses are also well behind the UK on LinkedIn company pages (20 per cent vs 30 per cent) and an official Google+ presence (19 per cent vs 33 per cent).

Researchers at Aberfield highlighted the lack of any apparent social media presence for the likes of Allied Glass Containers, Country Style Foods and Yorkshire Building Society, and the relatively low presence for brands such as DFS Furniture and Provident Financial.

At the other end of the scale, researchers picked out Sheffield-based outdoor clothing and equipment retailer Go Outdoors as the region’s most social media-savvy brand, for its strong presence across all social networks and active engagement of its followers and fans. 

Phil Reed, managing director at Aberfield Communications, said: “Unfortunately, the likes of Go Outdoors are the exception rather than the rule in Yorkshire. 

“Too few companies in the region appear to be using social media effectively in order to develop their businesses. The real danger is that a half-hearted approach could be creating negative perceptions which may actually damage their brands longer term.”   

The top 150 companies are based on those appearing in the BDO ‘Yorkshire Report 2012’.

The full ‘Social Yorkshire’ report and associated infographic can be downloaded from http://www.aberfield.com/publicrelationsresourcesleeds.aspx

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