Apparently social media users have a bad case of middle-child syndrome.
As you probably could have guessed, when consumers or their peers share questions or comments on social media, they’re looking for a response. But really though. If not, they’re likely to take their business elsewhere.
A recent survey by SaaS company Conversocial looks at what US social media users want from brands online, and how they’re likely to react when they don’t get what they want.
Response required
Conversocial’s survey asked users how they would react if they visited a company’s Facebook page and found a number of unanswered questions or complaints from consumers.
Nearly half (49.5%) of respondents said they would be far less likely to buy anything from that company.
Moral of the story? Being unresponsive online is a gamble for brands.
Who are these people and what do they want?
The survey also shows that 50.7% of US social media users frequently use these platforms to communicate with brands. 35.7% of consumers believe that communicating with brands on social media is the way of the future, mostly for convenience factors.
Overall, consumers who follow brands are looking for basic interaction with brands. More specifically:
- 27.3% want discounts, news and other useful stuff
- 9.6% want the brand to listen to praises and complaints
- 63.2% want all of the above
Social actions do matter
It looks like a company’s social actions do, in fact, have an effect on consumers’ purchase decisions. Half of respondents are willing to abandon a brand when they ignore questions or comments on social media, and two thirds demand a variety of content from brands in the online space.
