In our consumption-oriented society, people love to talk about brands. This isn’t a new thing-we’ve been defining ourselves by what we buy and where we shop for decades. However, the rise of social media has given consumers a new venue to share their opinions and experiences about their favorite brands and products. It also acts as a microphone, amplifying individual customer voices and allowing their opinions to influence more people than they would have been able in a less connected world.
The results of a new Harris poll released last week show that consumers have been using social media to broadcast their opinions, both positive and negative, about the brands they are familiar with. Adweek notes that 34% of the people surveyed said that they use social media to “rant or rave about a company, brand or product.”
Fortunately for marketers and PR folks, social media aficionados seem to be about as equally inclined to use social media to praise brands they like as they are to use them to vent about brands they dislike. No doubt you’ve heard the saying “a happy customer tells one friend, an unhappy customer tells everybody?” That old adage doesn’t seem to be quite as true when it comes to social media, at least not if the customers themselves are to be believed.
Adweek reports that an almost equal number of consumers (23%) use social media to plug brands that they like as use it to vent about brands they don’t like (26%). No doubt you can think of at least a few instances where social media was used to punish a brand on a scale that would have been all but impossible without social media (United Breaks Guitars, anyone? Or how about Nestle?), so it’s reassuring to see proof that consumers are also willing to use their newfound power to reward brands that make a positive impression on them.
Another interesting nugget from the poll: 45% of respondents said that opinions from their social media connections influence their purchasing decisions. As you might expect, younger respondents gave greater weight to opinions encountered through social media: 50% of respondents age 18 to 34 found them to exert “a great deal” or “a fair amount” influence.” For respondents 55 and older, only 37% said that social media was influential.
Statistics like these demonstrate why it is vital to get people saying good things about your company on social media. At Dukky, we understand how important it is to generate positive word of mouth, which is why our platform encourages customers to share your offer on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. We also track the responses to those shares, so you can identify your biggest brand advocates and reward them accordingly.
What steps are you taking to encourage positive conversations about your brand?
We’re using Twitter, Facebook and comment on blogs in order to influence our college (and in order to recruit more students). We also try to track the conversations about our college, this way it’s easier to be ready when there are comments.
Personally I don’t track my name, but I’m using Twitter to update my followers with what I’m doing, and I try to add as much value as possible to my name using Facebook, Stumble Upon, blogs etc…
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