Hopes and Fears of Social Media Marketing

This is not news to online stores that adoption of social media is on the rise. Three-quarters of U.S. retailers surveyed Web E-tailing group and PowerReviews in August and September of 2009 for "Community and Social Media Study" said that they thought brands accelerate their use of and commitment to, social media.

More than half of surveyed Web retailers have been using five of the 10 communities or tools of social media, and only a tiny percentage are not planning to use in the future. Facebook fan pages are most popular, and then Twitter and customer feedback.



But fears still abound. E-stores still worried about their own competence in the use of social media and lose control over their brand.

Their concern also showed that retailers understand the importance of social media: one of their biggest fears is that customers will abandon their sites in favor of one that was more socially interesting. The use of social media can be scary, but to avoid it becoming less option.

The main purpose of the social media of surveyed retailers is to increase the participation of the client by increasing brand loyalty, and encourage word of mouth among brand advocates.

Responding retailers consider references from customers were the best tool for community interaction management and also better for sales.

"Customer engagement has become the metric to be reckoned with, where there is no deal to consumers through community and social media will have a brand and bottom line impact," said Lauren Freedman, president of E-tailing Group. "All traders should try and understand how to effectively place it on their brand, retain customers, drive sales and to prevent abandonment of competitors who have already embraced the best of its marketing potential." Social Media is big power!