Very few Irish software companies have jumped onto the Twitter bandwagon and of the meagre 26pc that have, only half of these are active users.
Only 10 companies – 3.5pc of the total survey – have an active Twitter presence and promote via the company website, said Aisling Foley, director of Aisling Foley Marketing.
“I knew the numbers would be low, because in general, Irish, SME and B2B companies haven’t figured out a social-media strategy yet,” Foley said.
“But I do think it’s important for companies to, at the very least, set up Twitter and Facebook accounts in order to choose the best name as a lot of names are taken. After this, companies can then think about the best ways to use those accounts.”
The research was conducted between December 2009 and January 2010 among 289 Irish-owned software companies.
Around 74pc of the companies are Dublin-based, with the remainder outside of Dublin, but within the Republic of Ireland.
Aisling warns: “Companies which aren’t actively using their Twitter accounts and tracking followers need to be careful. A lot of these non active accounts have unwanted types of followers.
“There can be a lot of spam on Twitter, so it’s important to check your followers regularly to block the inappropriate ones,” Foley said.
By John Kennedy
