Successful social media programs combine a total company brand experience with deals that give your customers real value they can’t find anywhere else.
We just read in BrandWeek that a new consumer study of “digitally connected” consumers found that more than 25% of respondents follow their favorite brands on Twitter. Of those, 43% do so for the exclusive deals and offers. That far surpasses the 24% who are current customers, the 23% looking for interesting content or the 4% in need of service support.
The story is roughly the same for the 40% of respondents who say they connect with brand pages on Facebook or MySpace. Of those, nearly 37% say they fan or friend brands for the deals, edging out the 33% who do it because they’re already customers, and dwarfing those looking for interesting content (19%) or service support (5%).
Obviously, consumers of social media have figured out that online brand communities are a good place to find valuable money-saving opportunities, and who doesn’t like that?
But that’s only the half the story – or half the opportunity – for marketers trying to build loyalty and awareness through social media. It’s equally important to understand exactly what consumers expect from your products and your company when they interact with your brand; no deal is big enough or discount deep enough to overcome the disappointment of an active community of brand loyalists when they perceive a disconnect between their expectations and the reality of their experience with your business. On the plus side, no amount of advertising or promotion is more effective than positive word-of-mouth generated by an enthusiastic social network.
Social communities are living, breathing ecosystems fueled by the collective experience of your customers. When your service, product quality and innovation, in-store and online experiences all meet or surpass customer expectations, the community becomes a dynamic business engine. And when your brand delivers, brand loyalists become brand advocates willing to persuade others outside the community to experience it for themselves.
Deals and discounts are good, but combine them with a total company experience and there’s no mystery about how to energize an online community. That’s why every brand needs a unique strategy to reach its own loyalists in a way that is meaningful to them at every point of interaction.
Related Work: Accor - Commuter Nation, '47
