Consumers Pushing Companies into Social Media
Results from a recent ?Invoke Live!? study among 300 social
networkers show that consumers clearly expect their favorite brands to
be social media active and savvy.
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--There is no doubt that social media has become an ideal environment for
enabling people to stay connected with friends, family members and work
colleagues. But now it seems that social networking in general is being
redefined as a way to promote interactions between companies and their
customers.
?We all knew that social networking was a driving force in interactions
between people. But the degree and speed to which consumers have
accepted social networking as a way to communicate and exchange
information with companies is startling?
Invoke
Solutions, a leader in large-scale online qualitative market
research, recently conducted one of its ?Invoke Live!? sessions among
300 active users of social media to understand the state of social
networking from the user?s perspective. Among the many findings, what
stood out was the degree to which tools such as Facebook and Twitter are
being used by social networkers to promote communication with companies,
in addition to friends and family members.
The study showed that 65% of participants follow a company or brand on Facebook
and 47% had posted a comment on a company Facebook page. And while
Facebook is clearly the epicenter of the social networking universe
today, with 78% mentioning it when asked what they associate most with
social networking, Twitter
is also growing in relation to company-customer interactions. Over 31%
of social networkers stated that they follow a brand or company?s
Tweets, with strong evidence that this percentage is increasing.
Further, participants who follow companies on Twitter were more willing
than the average participant to leverage the full spectrum of social
media outlets to engage brands when they have a comment or complaint,
with 47% posting comments on their own Facebook page, 68% commenting on
a companies? page, and 25% tweeting and even blogging about brands. This
suggests that the use of Twitter may be a bellwether of the truly
socially engaged.
?We all knew that social networking was a driving force in interactions
between people. But the degree and speed to which consumers have
accepted social networking as a way to communicate and exchange
information with companies is startling,? says Peter Mackey, Invoke?s
EVP of Research. ?And what?s more, the companies that do it well are
seeing increases in customer satisfaction and positive perceptions of
those brands, while those that don?t are paying a price in terms of
missed opportunities and decreased satisfaction.?
As evidence, the following comments are some of many given by
participants when asked if they had ever used social media to post a
comment to a company:
-
?I commented on Nabisco's Facebook page about how wonderful the 100
calorie packs are and they sent me a coupon for a package for free.?
-
?I had a couple problems with my new dishwasher. I called the 800
number and they blew me off so I made contact through Facebook page
and they responded and fixed the problem. I guess they didn?t want to
get a bad reputation.?
-
?I commented on the Lands? End Facebook page about a slow order and
they took care of me by providing me a free shipping code for my next
order.?
-
?I usually leave compliments to a company on their Facebook page. I
have left positive comments for companies like Seventh Generation and
Olay. I left the comments because I truly enjoy their products. I did
receive a response from Seventh Generation, but not from Olay.?
-
?I had an issue with an airline treating me badly, so I posted it
on my wall and theirs. The company did not respond.?
?One would have expected to see some push back from social networkers
about the ?corporate take over? of social media. We saw very little of
that,? said Mackey. ?In fact, the acceptance of a company presence is
even found in the high degree of trust consumers have of that presence,
with only 17% saying they distrust the Facebook postings of a company,
brand or product. It will be interesting to see if that trust erodes as
more companies embrace social media and the quality of interaction
degrades.?
?Invoke continues to dig deep into consumer insights on a broad range of
subjects, and our discovery methodology and research business model
allow us to draw out trends and insights in advance of general market
awareness. Normally we apply these techniques for our clients in
confidential programs and analysis. ?Invoke Live!? is a trademarked
program in which we conduct our own research for the general benefit of
industry,? said Basil Bennett, CEO of Invoke Solutions.
To review an executive summary of Invoke?s report about social media?s
impact on business today and in the future, visit: http://info.invoke.com/social-media-executive-summary-2.
To download the full 45+ page report from Slideshare, go to: http://www.slideshare.net/invokesolutions/hyper-social-networking-report-slideshare-version.
About Invoke Solutions, Inc.
Invoke Solutions is a respected leader in technology led marketing
research known for its online, real-time, large-scale qualitative
research expertise that helps industry leaders make key decisions about
their products, communications, and strategies. ?Invoke Live!? utilizes
the technology of Invoke?s Engage Live to create a research event that
brings together key stakeholders and between 50 and 250 participants for
a highly engaging interactive research session. To learn more about
Invoke Solutions, please visit http://www.invoke.com.
To learn more about Engage Live, please visit: http://www.invoke.com/index/products_online.
Invoke Solutions
Basil Bennett, 781-810-2700
CEO
Basil.Bennett@invoke.comRead more