Report: Social Media is Hugely Popular with Latin American Businesses

Social media is becoming the most popular communications tool among enterprises across Latin America, according to a recent study by Frost & Sullivan. The report comes as New York City-based enterprise social technology company Sprinklr, Inc. announced that it has agreed to acquire Brazil’s social media analytics technology firm Scup.

Scup was the first Brazilian social media platform certified by Twitter and currently serves more than 500 of the most social brands in Brazil, including bank Banco Bradesco, Rede Record (Brazil’s second-largest broadcaster) and TAM Airlines.

According to Frost and Sullivan, enterprises in the region are using social media extensively, with almost three quarters of companies having implemented usage policies for public social media and two-thirds having dedicated staff.

“Mid-size and large enterprises are more likely to use social media for internal collaboration than small businesses, but not by a large margin,” said Tonya Fowler, Frost & Sullivan’s Customer Research Global Director.

According to recent reports, Latin America has 179 million Facebook users – 13% more Facebook users than the United States’ 158 million. Moreover, social media users in the region spend 10.5 hours per month on social media, almost double the 5.5 hours that U.S. consumers spend on social media.

However, despite their strong faith in social media, many major firms have yet to adapt to the “bring your own device” (BYOD) trend.

According to the report, the healthcare sector has been biggest beneficiary of social media, with educational institutions also beginning to use social media for internal collaboration.

“Laptops, instant messaging, and smart phones are the most commonly used enterprise communication tools today, but all three are expected to experience significant declines in three years,” Fowler added.

IP phones are by far the most widely deployed tool, followed closely by consumer social media, although many businessmen in Latin America still appear unfamiliar with web conferencing.