The Social Media Marketing DataBook - Introduction
Social Media Transforms the Marketer/Customer Relationship
Social media is driving a sea-change, both in the way that companies approach the planning and execution of their marketing and communications strategies and, more importantly, in way that consumers choose to interact with brands. Word-of-mouth via social media and other forms of user-generated media is vesting increasing power with consumers to spread a positive brand image or customer experience with an impressive degree of reach…or to seriously damage a brand with frightening speed. Participation in social media for most organizations is no longer optional because their customers are already there talking about them.
The majority of social media users are actually receptive to the participation of companies in social media. Indeed, as increasingly large numbers of brands establish a social presence user attitudes on this subject remain positive. Eighty-nine percent of respondents in a September 2009 study by Cone LLC indicated that companies should both maintain a presence and interact with consumers at least as needed or by request, which was up slightly from 85% in a similar survey from 2008.
A similar analysis by Anderson Analytics from July 2009 found that 81% of social media users are either “neutral” or “feel positive” about brands participating on social networks and 52% have actually friended or become a fan of at least one brand. One-in-four users interact with companies via social media at least twice per week on average – up from 13% one year ago – according to the Cone survey (see this table for details).
Although most individuals appear to generally welcome the participation of companies/brands in social media, interaction with users should be approached judiciously inasmuch as 35% of individuals surveyed by Anderson Analytics would not like to see more communication by companies versus 20% who are interested in more frequent communication.
Social media users are primarily interested in interacting with companies for their own benefit, not for purposes which exclusively benefit the company. Solving customer problems (or providing virtual customer service) and soliciting customer feedback were among the most popular reasons for users communicating with companies, cited by 61% and 49% of respondents respectively, according to Cone LLC. A clear majority (58%) of social media users are, not surprisingly, also interested in free stuff: free samples, coupons and discounts.
Who's Doing Social Media Well?
The findings of Cone and Anderson Analytics are further reinforced by a listing from Abrams Research of brands that are widely viewed as effectively harnessing social media. Several of the firms – Zappos, Comcast, JetBlue, Dell and Ford – are among the most aggressive in their use of social media to assist customers, answer questions, collect feedback and otherwise engage both existing and prospective customers online.
Social Media Marketing DataBook
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