The Indianapolis based company ExactTarget investigated why people are following brands on Twitter.
38% of the people that answered ExactTarget’s online poll indicated that information about new products is the main reason to follow brands. Following brands to get information about their activities was mentioned by 32% of the respondents.
Only then came discount coupons (31%), information about special sales (30%) and samples and freebies (29%). Fun and entertainment was mentioned by 26%.
23% of the respondents indicated they follow brands on Twitter to show others their support for the brand and 20% is hoping for some kind of interaction and feedback from the brand they follow.
Remarkable
I find it remarkable to see that the main reasons for following brands on Twitter is the need for information about the brand and products. Because that is of course what we want to achieve; people that are really interested in our products.
Doing a survey like ExactTarget did, I would have expected more people to follow brands because of the money. But it turns out this is not the main reason, although it is still a relatively large group of followers that are interested in coupons and special sales.
And last but not least I think the fact that 20% of the respondents indicated they follow brands hoping for some kind of interaction is very interesting for the future. It means that a lot of people are interested in using the new social platforms like Twitter to really communicate with brands.
Is B2B different?
Surveys like the one done by ExactTarget are mainly about B2C brands and consumers. But does this mean we can also use the results of surveys like this for B2B marketing?
In B2B marketing there will generally already be more communication and interaction between brands and customers than there is in the B2C world. That means there may be less need using social platforms for two way communication.
But B2B customers are consumers too. So they are probably also interested in discounts and sales.
I also think B2B customers have a stronger relationship with brands. The percentage of B2B customers that want to show their support for a company may therefore well be higher than in ExactTarget’s survey.
Therefore
B2B activities on Twitter and other social platforms should therefore focus on information and special sales or preferential treatments for followers and friends like free exhibition tickets and alike.
You should also make it easy for your followers and friends to share information with others. Giving them the possibility to be advocates for your brand.
Finally you must be prepared to use your social platforms to start a conversation with your customers. But you must not panic if these conversations do not start right-away, because it may not be the main reason why your customers follow you. They may prefer to give you an old fashioned phone call or send you an email.
Related links:
> ExactTarget.com
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