Study uncovers users’ views of social media marketing
A new study has sought to find out what web users think of companies’ efforts to market themselves on social networking website.
The report, Social Network Marketing, Engagement Marketing and Brands, was compiled by marketing expert Tony Chapman and polled users of the Facebook and MySpace networking websites.
It showed that organisations in the habit of listening and responding to users’ feedback on these websites were more likely to be seen as being in a strong relationship with these users.
Despite this, those companies that overuse the medium by sending a barrage of ads and promotions were largely believed to be annoying.
"If brands treat friends/fans as colleagues rather than customers, then trust is reinforced and the need to manage brand reputation is reduced," Mr Chapman concluded.
More than nine in ten US web users think companies should operate on social media websites, according to recent research by Cone.
