Is your brand really connecting with your consumers in the social networks?

Does your brand have a company page in Facebook or a profile in twitter or a page in LinkedIn or an account in Google+ or all of those?

If no, maybe it is due to a strategic decision not to participate in the social networks as this highly depends on the type of business or industry you are in, the type of products or services you are handling or many other factors.

If yes, the journey has begun and it is a long and demanding one! But it is also one important step towards truly connecting with your consumers, listening to them, understanding them, building a stronger relationship with them, enhancing your marketing activities and reinforcing the bonds with your loyalty program members. We strongly encourage creating an active community while carefully avoiding the common pitfalls when creating content.

A study carried out by Emarketer.com provides useful insight on the behavior of the consumers when relating to brands through their social networks. Among the top reasons for consumers to “like” a brand are either having purchased something or wanting to have access to exclusive deals and insider information. That has been known for a while and the percentage is slightly increasing to 45% from 41% (Q4 2011).

But at the same time, consumers are liking companies that provide entertainment within their company pages in the social networks whether it is their core business or not.

So, in order to capture your target consumers’ attention, create a long lasting relationship in the social-sphere and ultimately bring your consumers close to your brand, a solid strategy is to provide relevant content in your contact points with them. Only when the consumers feel close to the brand, can they truly act accordingly. And the brand that achieves this will eventually reap the benefits!

It is a long journey and definitely worth it!