brand & marketing

Pushy Brands in danger of alienating Young

By Andrew Horsfall,
Marketing Assistant
at fhios.

Young people are on the verge of abandoning social networking sites due to the commercialism of the websites.

Young people welcome the presence of brands on social networking sites but over half say they will stop using a network if it becomes too commercialised.

A survey carries out by Webtrends showed:

• 85% of people under the age of 35 welcome brands on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
• With 50%of these saying they would leave if the site became too commercial.

The survey also found that; 39% of social network users complain that there was too much advertising on the sites, challenging brands to strike a delicate balance between brand communication and bombardment.

More than 50% of Twitter users expected brands to use social media to:

• Understand customers
• Provide better service for those customers
• Involve users in the design of future goods and services
• Discuss market issues
• Draw attention to new products and initiatives

Also 50% of Twitter users said that a brand had successfully interacted with them through social media, compared to 31% of Facebook users

Christian Howes, at Webtrends, reccommeded that businesses should:

• Be agile on social networks
• Listen to feedback
• Place the customer’s interests at the heart of their message

At fhios we believe that placing customers at the heart of business is imperative in remaining competitive.

We can offer insight into understanding customers’ needs, goals, habits and satisfaction levels when they engage with brands and their competitors.

© 2009 fhios insights.