This is the second post about the Razorfish FEED 2009 Report… as promised. I was reading a post from my friend Todd Muffley over at Fat Atom and it got me thinking about the future of online communication. His post is entitled, “Is Social Media One Big Coupon Book?” The premise of the post is captured in two sentences:
“If Social Media does become one big coupon book, watch out Newspaper, Magazine, Radio, TV and Direct Mail (to name a few). The old school push model of coupon distribution may just go the way of the VCR.”
The post is (of course) fueled by the Razorfish study which states that of “those that follow a brand on Twitter, 44% say that access to deals is the main reason. The same holds true for those that added a brand on Facebook or Myspace, where 37% cite access to exclusive deals or offers as their main reason.” (pg 9)
Now, the Razorfish study does not give a voice to all 200 million people using broadband Internet access but it does create a platform for discussing the main draw of social media. I would venture to say that the main reason a user FIRST joins a fanpage or follows a brand on Twitter is because of a contest or promotion. Once the individual becomes a fan the SECOND step is interacting with that fan in order to build some type of trust. Repeat customers are the best customers… nay… repeat customers with friends are the best customers.
There is always a conversation buried in the depths of a relationship being built between a customer and a brand. Where that relationship starts? Who knows? The important thing to remember is to have the conversation… which eventually leads to conversion.
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I agree with your thoughts. As to the coupon book theory, I'd say in the longer view, it's 100% – 10 years and traditional coupons are more or less extinct. It's this transitional period that obv is the balancing act for brands.
Although I follow many brands for "deals" or contests, I have many great examples of great customer service provided to me by companies via social media channels such as @GriffinTech and @iGo. I've told these stories to many folks, but I guess I ought to blog about it as well, shouldn't I?
I blogged on this thought awhile back at http://bradjward.me. Unless you have great customer service or a great product, the majority of people don’t care about you until there is something free involved. And unless you can recouperate that initial acquistion cost, you’re doing it for all the wrong reasons.
Chase the goals, not the tools.
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Thanks for the post and thoughts Kyle. I Googled "why fans follows brands on facebook" and your blogpost was #2 behind readwriteweb which lead me to the Razorfish Feed 09 study. Awesome!
It's interesting to think that the reason consumers follow brands is for deals/promotions. It's like they're asking for Spam but really, knowing the "rules" of brands being in SM spaces, they CAN'T Spam or they'll be outed, so consumers almost know they're signing up for more than just deals/promotions, they're signing up for brands to be kind and relevant to them.
what do you think?