The latest information on social media marketing: Some findings
06/29/10 03:14 PM Filed in: Social
Media
According to a May 2010 study by privacy researcher the Ponemon Institute sponsored by identity theft prevention service ProtectMyID.com, more than three-quarters of US social media users have at least some concern about their privacy and security while using social media, including 28% who say their concerns are serious.
- About a quarter of social media users are worried about identity theft on the sites, according to the study, compared with 54% who thought their information might be stolen while banking online and 42% while shopping online. When asked about the consequences they attribute to their own use of nonsecure social sites, the greatest number of respondents cited an increase in the frequency of online ads they see.
Several studies, including ones from MarketingSherpa and Razorfish, have indicated that finding deals is the main reason consumers follow brands on microblogging sites. But US moms—normally considered big fans of coupons and money-saving tips—told lucid marketing that content was No. 1.
- Their top reason for following businesses on Twitter was that they provide useful information (68.3%), just edging out that they were already customers (67.3%) and the desire to find out about products and services (66.9%). While about two-thirds said they liked to see businesses tweeting links to sales, moms most wanted companies to share links to interesting articles or news.
According to a May 2010 study by Digital Brand Expressions, 52% of social marketers are operating “without a game plan,” similar to the 50% found in April 2010 by R2integrated. Further, many that do have a strategy find it doesn’t address all their concerns or fit their needs. The most common elements included by companies with a social media communications plan were resource-allocation guidelines for ongoing activities, registration of branded usernames on social sites and research into competitors’ use of social media.
Digital consulting firm Syncapse and research company Hotspex have come up with an empirical formula that puts an average value of $136.38 on the Facebook fans of the site’s 20 biggest corporate brands. Most of that value comes from how much the fans will spend on the brand’s products, with additional dollars coming from customer loyalty, recommendations and earned media.
Many social site users make good use of the voice that the medium provides them to talk about brands, products and services. An April 2010 study by ROI Research commissioned by Performics found that, at least once a week, 33% of active Twitter users share opinions about companies or products, while 32% make recommendations and 30% ask for them.
Generally speaking, social networkers reported strong support for Facebook, with 13% more maintaining active accounts in April 2010 compared to October 2009. All other networks included in the study registered a reduction in active accounts over the same time period: MySpace, YouTube, Windows Live, Classmates.com, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Overall, the study documents the continued expansion of the role of social networking in users' personal lives:
• 51% say social sites are the best way to communicate with friends and family
• 39% of Twitter users respond to other people's tweets once a week or more
• More than 30% of respondents access Facebook and/or Twitter from their mobile phone (through a browser or application) once a day or more
Social networkers want more brand interaction
The study also asked questions about brand interaction and, as was the case in October during the first wave of the study, many participants have hopped on the brand wagon. Specific to brand interaction, many social networkers already actively engage:
• 40% use social sites to connect with brands and products.
• 50% of Facebook users click on Facebook ads to "like" a brand.
• 37% learned about a new product or service from a social networking site.
• 32% have recommended a product/service/brand to friends via a social networking site.
• 32% of Twitter users re-tweet content provided by a company or product
This widespread participation between social networkers and brands is attributable to companies "getting it right" when it comes to social engagement and giving users what they want. For example, a whopping 90% said that at least some of the companies and/or products they are a fan of are doing a good job providing relevant content. More than a third said most or all of them were doing a good job. So it only makes sense that social networkers reported a desire for more of the same from the companies they follow:
• 49% want more printable coupons
• 46% want more notifications of sales and special deals.
• 35% want more information about new products.
