Social Significance: Why B2B Brands Value Social CX & Are Spending More
By Lane Ellis
Why are B2B brands placing greater value on social media, and why are they willing to spend more than ever before on social customer experience (CX)?
New digital marketing research reveals why B2B brands are finding a renewed passion for the expanding benefits of social media, and why they are becoming more willing than ever to spend more for the competitive advantages that social CX offers.
Let’s take a look at some of the latest report and survey data, and see how B2B brands are changing their social media strategies and outlook.
1 — Social Helps B2B Brands Meet Customer Expectations
A new report from Sprout Social reveals how customer expectations have evolved for the brands that they follow on social media.
Examining insight from over 1,000 U.S. consumers and the same number of U.S. marketers, along with 782 million public social messages, the recently-released “Sprout Social Index, Edition XVII: Accelerate” report showed that 90 percent of consumers will purchase from brands they follow on social media.
“For marketers, this is an opportunity to demonstrate how social positively influences all parts of the business and why a brand’s competitive advantage lives on social,” the report suggested.
55 percent of marketers said they used social data for understanding their target audience, while 48 percent used it to develop creative content, and 39 percent for supporting other departments, the report showed.
Only 26 percent of marketers said they used social data to foster connections with customers, however, and just 10 percent said they used the data to inform business decisions.
“88 percent of marketers agree their social strategy positively influences their bottom line,” the research concludes.
The value of social data has generally increased over time, and the new Sprout Social study bears this out, revealing that 47 percent of marketers consider social a resource that influences strategy for multiple organizational teams, while 46 still see it as strictly a marketing resource, with eight percent viewing it as an organization-wide resource for business intelligence.
Something as seemingly simple as responding quickly to customer questions can be very important in brand purchase decisions. 47 percent of consumers said that responding to customer service questions in a timely manner was the top way brands could get them to buy and forgo competitors.
Nearly as important among consumers were brands that demonstrate an understanding of what consumers want and need.
“Nine out of 10 consumers will buy from brands they follow on social, while 86% will choose that brand over a competitor,” the Sprout Social report data showed.
Given the importance customers place on speedy response times from brands, it’s easy to see how the new Sprout Social data indicated that “78 percent of consumers agree that social media is the fastest and most direct way to connect with a brand — and consumers want their voices heard.”
When it comes to sharing feedback about a product or service, after social media, consumers …read more
Source:: Top Rank Blog
