Using social media to get close to customers is becoming increasingly popular. With brands that is. But according to research commissioned by PRmoment, consumers are not keen on being contacted by brands this way. In particular, consumers resent being called on their mobile phones. Even when consumers have signed up for emails from brands, 23 per cent still find it annoying when they receive them.

Supplied by Opinium Research

Of the social network sites, LinkedIn alerts are considered the most irritating (77 per cent are annoyed by, or simply dislike, these), while messages from Facebook are deemed the least grating (although still 65 per cent are annoyed by/dislike them).

It is clear that if brands wish to build a rapport with customers using digital media, they need to respond to customer requests, rather than bombard people with unsolicited communications. Emails that people have signed up for may be welcomed (or at least tolerated) by 77 per cent of those interviewed, but even these can become irksome if they are done too often, or are irrelevant.

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If brands are to use social media well, this needs to be part of a comprehensive online marketing strategy. “Social media is best used by brands as a support tool for publicising regularly updated customer-focused content that every brand should now have on its website,” say Ian Whiteling, director of specialist consumer online agency Three-Sixty (www.three-sixty.co.uk). Whiteling believes that online content should not be all about the brand, but rather offer useful information and advice for its audience.

Whiteling offers tips for engaging, rather than exasperating, consumers: “By sending out a regular alert informing the target audience about any relevant new content on its website, a brand is directly engaging, while providing something of key value, helping to build kudos and loyalty, and a strong online community. Feedback can be encouraged, which can inform not only future web content, but also product and service development. Furthermore, by getting people to register for access to the online content and the regular alert – perhaps by using an incentive – a brand has a useful data capture tool that enables it to find out key details about its audience.”

Tweets can be irksome from brands, but Whiteling believes that there are ways to make them more relevant, for example if interesting online content is used as the basis for a brand's Twitter output (rather than it simply Tweeting about itself), along with other interesting news related to its sector. He explains, “In this way a brand is acting as a filter for news, articles and other information relating to its audience. This helps to further enhance a brand's reputation, attracting Twitter followers and driving people to its website for more information.”

When it comes to using Facebook, brands can set up a Facebook advertising page – this is like a normal Facebook page, but is focused on a brand rather than an individual. Whiteling suggests that this can display elements or tasters of a brand's web content, and also host video content and launch interactive initiatives, such as Q&A sessions, along with discussion groups, focusing on subjects relevant to a brand's audience. Whiteling concludes: “All these initiatives help to get a brand closer to its audience.“

Methodology

Opinium Research carried out 2013 online interviews in the UK. The research period was 5 March to 9 March 2010.