Yes, we know a social media presence is an absolutely vital component of any successful marketing effort in United States, but how are other countries coming along with adopting the current trends in online media?

This next inforgraphic from, Middle Eastern online jobs giant, Bayt.com fills us in on how social media is doing in North Africa and the Middle East. Things are looking a little different over there and a new poll sheds some light on where there’s room for improvement.

According to the recent poll by Bayt, a majority (almost 47%) of people feel that social networking is not being used correctly by companies in their region. Despite the fact that more than half (51.1%) of corporations are using social, a huge majority (81.6%) believes it could be potentially damaging to the company’s reputation.

The challenges they see companies facing as obstacles to successful when using social media promotion include not responding to feedback in a timely manner, failing to get the tone of the message right, failing to monetizing presence, and failing to become educated about using various platforms overall.

Lama Ataya, CMO of Bayt.com comments on the results of the poll:

“When asked what they consider to be most important in a successful corporate social media page, more than a quarter of respondents said that they want content that is ‘informative and educational’. Companies looking to implement a successful social media strategy should bear this in mind when launching a new page,”

“Social media is a dynamic force that is being manifested today in both the personal and professional realms. Bayt.com provides essential statistics and tools to assist employers and job seekers in building the most successful online profile in order to boost their recruitment and personal or corporate brand potential.”

Here are a few highlights from Bayt’s poll on Social Media Advertising:

• A majority of respondents (46.8%) believe that social media is not being used effectively by the region’s companies.

• Eight out of every ten respondents (81.6%) claim that the potential for social media to damage a company’s reputation is one of the biggest challenges to overcome.

• More than half of the respondents (51.1%) say that their company uses social media.

• Nine in ten (86.1%) respondents would participate in their company’s social media activities, if given the chance.

• majority of respondents (39.1%) say that their company updates its social media pages once a day, compared to 27.9% who say that the social pages are rarely updated by their company.

• Almost of the respondents (47.6%) say they actively follow other companies along with their own on social media.

• The majority of respondents (29.8%) are looking for content on social media that is educational and informative.

Check out the infographic: