What Consumers want from facebook

Below you will see information that may surprise you somewhat. That certainly appears to be the case for many of the large corporations in America. They have been busy trying to have a conversation with their customers rather than offering them what they really want, which is deals or special promotions for their products.

The social media perception gap
April 4, 2011 by engagesciences0
inShare.Most companies are misunderstanding the massive opportunity that social media marketing represents. Last month the IBM Institute of Business Value published a report entitled ‘From Social to Social CRM’. The report surveyed 1000 consumers about the reasons they interact with companies via social sites and then compared this with the results from surveying 350 business executives on why they thought consumers followed them on on social media. The results highlighted a perception gap that can only mean companies are missing out on direct revenue opportunities.

The reality is social media followers WANT to be monetized – they are after deals, promotions and discounts. Unfortunately most business executives are barking up the wrong tree by thinking that conversation with the brand is what drives people to follow them. In reality it is quite the opposite. Of course this represents a massive opportunity. If brands build up large social followings they can distribute social offers into this community and the research suggests that commercial results will be healthy. You can’t get more focused social ROI than campaigns focused on revenue. Marketing executives need to meet consumers expectations when they follow companies on social sites through providing regular deals, coupons and social offers.

This reminds me of what an "old time" salesman told me one day after I had made my sales pitch. I was really excited about the job I had done and I had walked out with an order. I asked him to critique how I had done, just knowing that I had hit it out of the park. He looked at me for a moment, sort of nodded and said: " Wood, you did ok but you talked to #### much, just say your piece, ask for the order and shut-up." This sounds like sound advice to anyone trying to promote products on social sites. Give them what they want, then get out of the way.