Found this article today summarizing a report by Razorfish about how people interact with brands and what they are looking for in that brand interaction related to:
- Control
- Value
- Trust
- Efficiency
- Consistency
- Relevance
The report found that most consumers prefer traditional methods of connecting with brands, such as email or word-of-mouth over using Twitter of Facebook. This doesn't surprise me as Twitter & Facebook are much newer than email, however, it's worth a reminder to all marketers as we continue to evaluate the amount of time & effort we invest across channels and methods of connecting with our target market.
Here's a summary of the findings:
Most people still prefer to connect with brands through more traditional methods, such as email, company Web sites or word-of-mouth.
The goal was to look at customer-relationship management more from a consumer's standpoint than a marketer's to understand how people choose to interact with brands.
That's among the key findings from a new report from Razorfish titled "Liminal"
both the hipster who DMs a company on Twitter and a boomer who sends a letter in the mail both ultimately want the same thing. Thus, companies should worry less about building out numerous channels and touchpoints and more about ensuring each customer interaction communicates value," advised Razorfish.
Among the six qualities that define engagement -- feeling valued, trust, efficiency, consistency, relevance and control -- control ranked as the least significant among consumers. "Apparently, the consumer does not need to be in as much control as we thought, seeing other things as far more important," stated the report.Read more at www.mediapost.com
Interesting - at first very provocative (as Razorfish is wont to be) - but then you realize they buried the lede:
ReplyDeleteConsumers prefer interactions with value, and see social platforms as offering less value than direct email contract.
That's probably because in terms of conversations and social CRM, many companies are doin' it wrong. They're marketing, selling, touting and blathering on FB and Twitter without making real connections or answering distinct customer needs.
In other words, it's not the channel, it's the communication that matters.