New Research: Consumers Like Social Media Marketing
October 27, 2008
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New data from a survey of 1,092 consumers by Opinion Research Corporation found that 85% of social media users thought companies should interact with them through social media. This is strong validation for social media marketing. Consumers, tired of being shouted at, are ok with properly managed social media marketing campaigns like those we do for our clients.
Emarketer reported the results of the study. Only 7% of people felt companies should not be in social media at all, while another 8% felt that it would be ok for companies to have a presence but not interact. (I’m not sure I really understand that perspective, but ok…). 51% felt that social media marketing was ok if the interaction was somewhat limited and the last 34% felt companies should go all in.
I can tell you first hand that companies are jumping into this space rapidly, but another survey puts some numbers on the trend. Online retailers are naturally early to the game, and a plurality are choosing Facebook, followed closely by MySpace and YouTube.
I’m glad consumers are accepting the early entries, even though some of the initial social media marketing examples have been a bit clumsy. My hope is that as professionals in this space, we continue to earn this trust by not turning this into spam.
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5 Responses to “New Research: Consumers Like Social Media Marketing”
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Ah, but how many of the consumers who don’t use “social media” were sanguine about money being diverted from other customer-facing activities?
Whaddyamean, you didn’t bother to ask?
Ian,
Are you suggesting that consumers will be sad if the ad budget is reduced to pay for social media marketing?
If so, I’m not really sure that would be the case…
~Jim
Keep in mind the reason (online) retailers are targeting Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube is the stereotypical high schoolers and college students who frequent the site and virally market their applications.
Ari Herzog’s last blog post..Lead in Online Marketing…with ASCII
Interesting report would like to see it in more detail though.
Interesting results and something I’ve been researching myself.
I just did a small survey of all the girls in my friends list. There were only 4 questions, all relating to whether they would book local hair and beauty appointments through facebook if it were easier to do so. The common consensus was yes! But at the moment they don’t because it isnt possible.
The other point which I noted was how easy it is to do your market research through facebook, and its free (there is a paid facebook poll service but pay ing for this is completely unnecessary)!
We are only scratching the surface of what social media can do…