BUSINESS OR PLEASURE: RECENT AIM RESEARCH SHOWS SOCIAL MEDIA DOES BOTH

Accountability Information Management, Inc. (AIM), a leading B2B research company, recently published a new AIM Snapshot research on the use of social media. The study found that as professionals become more comfortable using social media in their personal lives, they begin to find it helpful for their jobs.

During the pandemic, many companies required employees to work from home or on staggered work schedules, which prompted the boost to social media use and elevated the importance of its use to maintain a company’s success. The AIM research revealed 67% of building professionals are using social media or online platforms for both their job and for personal use.

Although social media for business is extremely different than social media for personal use, social media channels are now a critical part of the way people communicate and a key part of how work gets done. So, the more seriously you can take your social media activities, the better. They help expand your network by finding and connecting with relevant professionals in your industry. For example, the AIM research indicates that more architects and interior designers use social/online media than facilities or engineers for both their job and on personal time.

“It’s perfectly acceptable from the findings to develop separate accounts for personal and professional uses,” says Patty Fleider director of research at AIM. “During COVID-19 social media has grown at such a rapid pace. Even though this research was conducted in January 2021, when COVID-19 was actively disrupting the world and vaccines were just ramping up, it shows that social media is being leveraged to benefit you both personally and professionally.”

For this study, AIM surveyed architects, interior designers, engineers and facility managers. The survey was conducted on-line in January 2021. Overall response was 153 completed surveys. The full Snapshots report can be downloaded free of charge at https://www.a-i-m.com/snapshots/do-you-personally-use-social-media/.

This Snapshot is part of an ongoing AIM research library, which can be found at www.a-i-m.com/snapshots  along with a variety of other in-depth research reports on the construction marketplace.

The Snapshots section is intended to provide key market information for building construction professionals and manufacturers in a format that is concise and easy to understand and absorb. Each Snapshot provides a brief 2-page written summary and graphic presentation suitable for posting of one key research finding from AIM’s current studies. Snapshots provide an overview of current market trends, audience behavior, customer insight and more. These easy-to-understand resources focus on a variety of topics that are of interest to manufacturers and marketers, including how COVID-19 impacted building professionals, the specification process, the growing importance of “basis of design,” the role of architects, contractors and designers in new product selection and much more.

To read AIM’s Snapshots, please go to: www.a-i-m.com/snapshots. For more information and to answer questions on how the findings apply to your company or other research possibilities contact: Patty Fleider, lead researcher at 847-358-8558 or [email protected].