Sprout Social just released their latest Social Media Index Report.
The report includes some unsurprising learnings like video and images remain the most valuable content types to achieve your goals; Facebook and Instagram still reign supreme; and Social Media use is on the rise across all generations.
Given the recent global quarantines, most internet usage s is on the rise, so it makes sense that Social Media is no exception.
That said, there are some compelling results of the study, including the actions consumers are most likely to take when they follow brands in social media.
The top five responses include:
- visiting the brand’s website or app
- buying from the brand
- choosing the brand over a competitor
- visiting the brand’s physical retail store and
- buying from that brand more often
This indicates the more engagement you have with your target customers in Social Media, the more likely they are to follow-through on your desired calls to action.
In fact, Sprout recommends by prioritizing responsiveness and relevance on Social, marketers can positively influence consumer behavior to benefit the entire organization.
As you read through the full report, Acronym’s experts are here to help you translate the findings into practical marketing use.
For example, Acronym’s Gellena Lukats, Director, Paid Social reminds brands how Social Media usage can lead to purchase when trusted recommendations are included.
“There are a lot of misconceptions, of how Social is only a view through channel, that should focus on awareness and upper funnel tactics. However, while there is a lot of brand lift, there are ample opportunities, to drive interest and purchase behavior with Social. Users trust their authentic sources of friends and influencers, in tandem with paid to make important purchase decisions. With consumers social media usage on the rise, across all age demos, now more than ever, it’s important to push traffic on this channel to drive results ”
Sprout adds that consumers want to be seen and understood by the brands they buy from, and they expect those interactions to play out on Social.
For brands facing steep competition, Sprout’s report details the actions brand can take to get consumers to choose them over a competitor, including:
- Respond to customer service questions in a timely manner
- Demonstrate an understanding of what the consumer wants and needs
- Create more culturally relevant content
- Create educational content about their product or service
- Engage with consumers on social media
According to Sprout’s study, Social Media remains the preferred channel for sharing feedback about a product or service. So, if you aren’t actively responding to your customers questions, comments and yes, even complaints, in Social Media, you are missing an opportunity to improve their brand experience.
In fact, the number one way to beat the competition is to respond to customer service inquiries in Social Media. Acronym’s Mary Sutter, Director, Social Media, says:
Marketers often overlook how vital handling Customer Service is on Social Media. Consumers think it is the number one trait that makes a brand best-in-class on social, whereas marketers rank it back in sixth place. Social Media is also, by far, the preferred channel for consumers to share product/service feedback or reach out to a brand for a customer service issue or question. A brand that is “best-in-class” on social media will have separate teams (possibly separate social accounts) handling and specializing in the marketing and customer service aspects of their Social Media channels.
Finally, Sprout’s report shows that marketers are still ignoring the wealth of data and insights that can be found in Social Media when applied to a brand beyond its marketing efforts, including measurement.
Although marketers agree their Social strategy positively influences their bottom line, only 15% of marketers use Social data to measure ROI and social is still treated as a marketing only resource.
As the Sprout Social report says: Marketers have an opportunity to educate the rest of their organizations on the power of social and where the future of business intelligence lies. When the entire organization learns to embrace social data, they’ll discover the path forward to rapid growth—and marketers will be the ones to show them the way.
If you’d like assistance with any part of your paid or organic Social Media strategy – or how to read and utilize your brand’s social media analytics, please contact us today.
