Social media is predicted to boom across UK businesses in 2011, with freelancers set to benefit from a raft of new short term vacancies as firms look for flexible solutions.
Published by freelancing website OfficeCavalry.com, The 2011 Freelancers Trends Report surveyed 1,000 UK businesses about their social media activities and initiatives.
The demand for businesses to manage their online presence across networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter is growing rapidly.
The report shows that 71% of UK businesses are ambitious to improve their social media presence in 2011, whilst 25% of them consider improving their social media presence a business priority.
Whilst the UK lags behind the US, (only half of businesses use social media in the UK compared with 90% in the US), the report predicts a boom in social media skills with thousands of short term vacancies becoming available in 2011.
Of UK businesses surveyed that aim to improve their social media presence in 2011, 15% of them would look at creating specific roles for the positions e.g. ‘social media manager’ or ‘online reputation manager’, and 65% of them would consider hiring Freelancers for the role to give them a more flexible, agile and scalable solution to meet currently unqualified future needs.
The survey reveals how social media functions break down among businesses. Currently 5% of businesses have Twitter experts who manage the reputation of their business on Twitter and help to engage and interact with consumers online. This figure is set to double in 2011.
For the smaller business or SME employing an individual to manage social media can appear hard to justify especially when the precise ROI is difficult to quantify. This is where using the services of a Freelancer can work, especially if engaged through OfficeCavalry.com who guide businesses and Project Owners through the process ensuring clear and specific objectives are set prior to the work commencing.
OfficeCavalry.com founder Andy Turner believes the predicted social media boom in 2011 will offer plenty of opportunities for Freelancers as thousands of new assignments are created.
”As consumers spend more time online, businesses are looking at ways of changing the way they engage and interact with their customers. The social media boom will fuel economic growth in the British economy as businesses realise the long term economic benefits of engaging with consumers via social media.
”Social media and online reputation management is changing the way organisations do business; a more agile, cost effective approach that is scalable and responsive to the ever changing social media landscape is required.
“We are providing an opportunity through OfficeCavalry.com for businesses to identify and select highly skilled candidates to allow their organisations to better manage their cost base, to grow and become more responsive to the needs of the overall economy in a scalable and cost effective way.
“For businesses it’s never been a better time to post a job on OfficeCavalry.com as we are providing a number of financial incentives and support features including refunding Project Owners’ transaction management fees for a limited period to help kick-start the new social media boom.”
Methodology
The 2011 Freelancers Trends Report was conducted in October 2010 and surveyed 1000 SMEs across the UK.
Source: www.OfficeCavalry.com