Author Archives: Ian Roberts
Social media is no longer confined solely to social media websites. Now you can see social plug-ins, such as Facebook’s “Like” button, on many websites you visit. A recent study by CityGridMedia and Harris Interactive has found that Facebook “Likes” are now the most common way consumers provide feedback on local businesses. Two in ten people said they have clicked on the “Like” button to show support for a local business, more than the 13% that wrote a review. After all, it’s easier to click a button than take the time to write a review. However, before you start using Facebook “Likes” on every product page as a customer review system, consider some recent research conducted by Curious. We’ve found that consumers find Facebook “Likes” pretty useless when researching products.
What’s the problem with “Likes” as a product-rating method? Most consumers said they don’t trust them because there is often an ulterior motive for liking a product – some form of reward, such as a coupon or discount. One of our ShopTalk members said he wasn’t sure if he could trust the number of “Likes” for a pair of jeans on the Levi’s website because people could have “Liked” those jeans to get a discount.
With the advent of social media, it has never been easier for consumers to interact with companies. An Experience Matters post a few weeks ago by Jeana Anderson showed how a couple simple tweets turned into an extraordinary experience. However, companies must be careful when using social media, because while good personal interactions can become extraordinary, bad personal interactions can become disastrous.
Curious’ recent research using our online community ShopTalk touched on why people choose to boycott companies. We found that boycotts which stem from bad personal interactions with companies are far more powerful than boycotts that arise from social or political scandals, as the case with BP or Nike.
About half of our members boycotted a company based on the company’s social practices or political views. Members talked about boycotting companies like Wal-Mart, based on their employment practices or Citgo-gas because of its ownership by “enemy of America” Venezuela. The other half boycotted a company based on a bad personal experience, such as terrible customer service. It was the first time I’d heard of Denny’s, Barnes and Noble, and Suave being boycotted.
While money-saving promotions are effective for increasing fans or followers on social networking sites, many companies don’t go beyond this. They offer promotions to increase their number of fans, see their numbers growing, and throw a massive party. Unfortunately, by the time their hangover wears off, they realize their ‘fans’ aren’t really fans at all, but rather coupon zombies with a singular goal: to save money on stuff they would buy anyway.
So how do you build a social networking presence which goes beyond coupons? Curious asked members of its research community, ShopTalk, why they were fans of companies and we found they liked companies that acted as ‘brand butlers’. A brand butler is a Trendwatching term for companies that assist consumers in making the most out of their lives, rather than try to sell them a lifestyle. When it comes to social networking sites, it’s all about providing value to your fans/followers through content that is unique, relevant, and useful. To become an effective brand butler on social networking websites, consider the following traits: Personality, Share-ability, Brevity, Channel Integration, Responsiveness.
