What is Your Business Giving to Your Followers in Return For Their Engagement?
In all relationships there is give and take. In the world of social media, many companies are now eager to leap into the world of social media networking—in particular Facebook and Twitter—to build their communities. There are many vehicles to do this and many businesses are giving away free coupons, for products and services, as a reward to those that join their fan page or tweet about their products and services. Others are making donations for charities that they support (e.g. we will donate $1.00 for each Facebook fan that signs up).
In return users have become savvy and are now well aware of the power of their product and brand evangelism. Yes—all of the free products and services are great but statistics show very clearly that the eager and more devoted social media users really want deeper engagement with the businesses that they are committed to supporting. Emarketer, one of the metrics leaders in the world of online statistics, posted an article on their blog: stats from December 2009 Marketing Sherpa. A “survey indicated that learning about specials and sales was the top motivation of those who friended or followed a brand online, supporting the results of earlier surveys. But looking for savings was followed closely by learning about new products, features or services”
The outcome of this survey reiterates that customers care about sharing content that they are interested in and passionate about, but deals and discounts are definitely a key component in this relationship. It is an age old tradition of give and take.
How are you giving in return for what you want to receive with your 2010 social media online marketing?
Best Nicole
Deals Aren’t The Only Thing
Brand marketers want consumers to follow them to build buzz and engagement, but social media users often desire something in return. What they’ve come to expect is a good deal, but many consumers—including the most active users of social sites—are also interested in deeper engagement.
A December 2009 MarketingSherpa survey indicated that learning about specials and sales was the top motivation of those who friended or followed a brand online, supporting the results of earlier surveys. But looking for savings was followed closely by learning about new products, features or services.
Users described as “max connectors”—those with at least 500 social connections—were less interested than average in getting deals. Instead, they cared about new products and company culture, demonstrating the deeper engagement expected by social media power users.
An earlier study, by Razorfish, also found that exclusive deals and offers were the primary motivation of US Internet users following brands on Twitter.
Respondents who friended a brand on Facebook or MySpace responded similarly, though they were more likely to become a fan because they were a current customer (32.9%) than were users of Twitter.
Sharing interesting content that users care about, along with the deals and discounts they have come to expect, will both keep them engaged and spur them to pass along marketing messages.
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Thanks for the post! People are crazy for not using more Twitter.
Hi Ralph, I agree! There is so much that can happen when you engage with your customers, friends, followers. admirers and those that you admire.
Thank you for your comment. I hope you will share our blog with your friends, family and colleagues. Join us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/bcadgroup and we will be sure to follow you.
Best Nicole
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Hi Gertha,
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Glad you enjoyed our post. Thank you for taking the time to SHARE your ideas, opinions and thoughts. We hope you will come back and pass us on!
Best Nicole
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