Terrakon Blog

Social Media: Marketer's Dream

Businesses are hopping on the Facebook and Twitter train, but are they really connecting to their audiences like they had hoped?  Are the consumers extending their friends and their followed networks to include the products and brands they support offline?

Digital marketing agency, Razorfish’s third annual FEED survey of 1,000 “connected consumers” appears to answer that big question with a YES.

Their survey is one that simply focuses on online consumer behavior, however this year Facebook and Twitter were not surprisingly featured quite prominently.

The survey shows that 40% of respondents “friend” brands on Facebook, while 25% reported that they follow brands on Twitter.

The survey also uncovered that their main reason for doing so was to receive information regarding deals and promotions.

Of those reporting to follow a brand on Twitter, nearly 44% reported that access to exclusive deals is the main reason they are following, compared to 37% that friend for this reason on both Facebook and MySpace.

Over 1/4 of respondents reported having followed a brand on Twitter- which is impressive even considering that Twitter is not yet entirely mainstream.

Perhaps more important than “if” consumers are engaging the brands they know and love through social media is “why.”  The survey found the following reasons:

Follow Brand on Twitter

The main three reasons: being a current customer, wanting exclusive deals and interesting content further prove that people follow brands because they seek enhanced value from them.  It is not an ego boost or a pat on the back for the brand, but instead consumers are doing so because they want to benefit from it in some way.

An even higher percentage of respondents reported having “friended” a brand on Facebook – an impressive 40%.  And why are they friending? Again, for personal benefit and gain.

Friend a Brand

Interestingly, consumers are not only seeking deals and promotions from Facebook and Twitter, but they are looking for news as well.  While 80% of respondents reported that they still access traditional new web sites for their news, 33% of those surveyed get news from Facebook, and 19.5% from Twitter.  (Respondents were asked to choose all that apply, so percentages reflect responses of one, two or many sources.)

Your News Online!

The point to walk away with… if you aren’t utilizing social media, start.  If you aren’t sure how or where, try Terrakon.

And when you do, be sure to consistently answer the question “What have you done for me lately?”