You Get What You Give: Social Media Engagement Translates Into Sales

For those of you still hesitant to launch your brand's involvement in social media, here's another wake-up call: A new study released by Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies surveyed over 1,500 people to reveal that people are more likely to purchase and recommend products/services from brands they follow in social media.

Specifically ...

• People are 67% more likely to purchase products from brands they follow on Twitter.
• People are 51% more likely to purchase products from brands they follow on Facebook.
• 60% of people are more likely to recommend a brand once they become a fan of it on Facebook.
  
• 79% of people are more likely to recommend a brand once they become a follower of it on Twitter.

If this doesn't convince all the social media skeptics out there to sign up for Twitter and Facebook accounts, I don't know what will.

While these statistics alone are impressive, perhaps the most important takeaway from the study's results is the motivating factor behind people's social media engagement with brands.  You guessed it: offers.  While some indicated they followed a brand just for the sake of showing support, most people are in it for the goods.  They want something in return, such as a discount, new information or remarkable content.  

The study proves a valuable point: it's not enough just to be there in social media. Rather, you need to be engaging your followers and fans with valuable content and marketing offers in order to be successful in keeping them -- many of which are potential customers -- engaged with and excited about your brand.  Followers desire a brand presence that is worthy of their support and appreciation.  In exchange for their support, you need to give them something in return. 

Our suggestions? It's simple, really.

1. Sign up for Facebook and Twitter if you haven't already.
2. Start creating interesting content, whether in the form of blog articles, webinars, videos, etc.
3. Share this content with your social media followers. (We think you'll find that you'll be rewarded with more followers, more leads, and ultimately, more sales!)

Successful online relationships are just like successful offline relationships.  You wouldn't expect to develop a mutually beneficial relationship by always taking and never giving something back, would you?

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Comments

Posted by Pamela Seiple on Thu, Mar 18, 2010 @ 11:48 AM