CorpComms Magazine

Discount vouchers and the ability to make purchases are the most common motivations for consumers to interact with companies on social networking sites, a new survey has revealed.

But their reasons will come as a surprise to companies who believe consumers follow them on social networking sites to feel part of their community.

Carolyn Baird, co-author of the study of 1,000 consumers for the world's largest IT company IBM, said: 'The executives who are responding to the study are feeling extreme pressure to get engaged as quickly as they can.'

Baird highlighted the importance for businesses to connect with their customers via social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, and noted the escalation in the number of companies doing so. She believes there is tremendous opportunity for companies to monetise their social networks, by launching campaigns or promotions with the ability to go viral.

However, she conceded that companies' take up of social networking has been rapid as they really only started to make use of social media to reach their customers in 2009.

The study revealed that most users of social media do so on an informal basis to stay connected with friends or to follow celebrities, rather than to engage with businesses. Six out of ten of those surveyed said they would not even consider interacting with a corporation on social networking sites until they believed that it was communicating sincerely.

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