Social Media is Not All That: Brands seduced by the hype around social media risk alienating their customers, says a new report by Pitney Bowes. Marketers investing time and money in social media interaction actually may be out of step as customers prefer that brands focus on the basics of communications. In fact, when asked about social media, just 18% of consumers say that social media activity inspires repeat purchases or brand loyalty for small businesses, and 25% say the method is effective for larger brands. Also “less effective” in driving repeat purchases are personalized Web pages (14% for small businesses; 20% for large) and online customer communities (24% for small; 29% for large).
Some concrete customer service initiatives that customers find attractive include:
• Providing an easy way to contact a company (53%).
• Providing home delivery (52%).
• Giving consumers a say in development of products and services (46%).
• Featuring controls so consumers may select preferred channels and frequency of communications (46%).
Source: Pitney Bowes