Broadcast is dead…unliking has begun

Social media is perhaps an unfortunate misnomer because it conjures images of broadcasting messages out over the media channel instead of creating engagement.  Just like with a friend who does all the talking, when companies take this broadcast approach, we soon tire of being talked at, pining for an opportunity to converse and have a two-way exchange of interesting information.  Studies are beginning to show that consumers and business people alike are tiring of their social connections to companies who don’t deliver the goods.

The “Social Breakup Study” by ExactTarget showed that Facebook users are unliking businesses because they are not communicating in a way that works for consumers.  Communications from the companies are deemed to be too frequent, repetitive, promotional, and irrelevant (see chart below).

Companies are still in broadcast mode, thinking consumers want product information and news about the company and its products.  But a recent eMarketer article reveals that consumers use social media with respect to companies for other reasons, mostly to compare prices and find out about deals and discounts as well as to provide brand feedback.

Social media is a great opportunity for companies to listen to their customers as well as share information with them.  The fundamentals of being customer-centric havent changed because there is a new communications channel.  In fact, the need to understand customers and communicate to them appropriately has increased, along with customer expectations.  Companies that embrace the need to be highly responsive to customers will see improvement in customer satisfaction scores, loyalty and brand metrics, as shown in a Forrester Dell study titled “Listening and Engaging in the Digital Marketing Age“.

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