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Survey Technology Ogilvy & Mather

Social media survey affirms that funny and informative content is king

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By John Glenday, Reporter

June 18, 2014 | 2 min read

A social media survey conducted by Ogilvy & Mather and SurveyMonkey has highlighted the key drivers which prompt people to share digital content, principally ‘what, why and how social media users share’.

It shows that 36 per cent of respondents mainly share content to promote a cause whilst 49 per cent perceive content sharing as a means to feel useful and thoughtful. A further 40 per cent of those who took part in the survey avowed that the source of content was immaterial, it was the strength of the content itself that matters.

Going further however the research looked at 6,500 social media users from 16 nations, illustrating that barriers to free speech play a crucial role in deciding which sources of content people are most likely to trust.

Of those quizzed 13 per cent cited content sharing as helping to define their personality, a trend particularly pronounced in culturally traditional countries such as Hong Kong, China, Poland, Turkey and Japan.

Thomas Crampton, global managing director of Social@Ogilvy “As brands become content creators, it is important for them to understand what motivates people to share. These survey results clearly show that companies must shift towards higher quality content and adjust strategy according to the local market. Simple translation does not work.”

Bennett Porter, vice president, marketing communications SurveyMonkey added: “The discovery of why consumers are sharing content has been fascinating. We’ve seen some startling differences in how emerging and developed markets approach content. It’s fascinating to see that the majority of social media users are not put off by the volume of ads seen, and are more than happy to see content – so long as its relevant and interesting.”

When asked to identify companies or organisations producing interesting content technology companies were cited by a number of respondents despite many not actually producing content themselves or being known as content producers. At least one US technology company (Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple) makes the list of interesting content producers in all countries, Korean and Turkish users are the only ones to cite government organisations as good creators of content with Poland being the only county to mention a specific political party.

In terms of brands Coca-Cola wins out over Pepsi internationally, Nike is more popular than Adidas and Samsung beats out Sony.

Survey Technology Ogilvy & Mather

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Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather is a New York City-based advertising, marketing and public relations agency. It started as a London advertising agency founded in 1850...

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