A total of 75% of British people use social-networking sites at work, against 67% in the USA, according to a recent survey among 300 employees and managers in both countries by cloud services firm Appirio.
In terms of adopting a set of rules for use of social media at work, Brits beat their US counterparts by a small margin: 49% versus 46%. The difference is similar – 39% against 36%, again in favour of Britain – when it comes to setting social media budgets, the research found, as cited by the Drum.
In the US, the three main areas of investments in the social field include the establishment of social media guidelines (47%), building a social media footprint (37%) and adding social features to current internal applications (31%), the report showed.
Building worker engagement through social media is considered twice as important in Britain as it is in the US. In America, social media is seen more as a powerful selling strategy, with 32% of Americans viewing it as a tool to attract new customers compared to 20% in the UK.
Social has huge implications for a company’s brand, interaction and bottom line, but in order to get the most from social media, businesses should listen to those who actively use social processes and tools rather than impose rules from the top down, says Appirio chief strategy officer Narinder Singh.