What Brand Followers Really Want – SlideShare

Engaging brand followers using email and social networks is a must, but many business owners are still standing on the sidelines due to lack of ROI. Maybe the problem is not in the means, but the message. Find out how to give the people what they want in email and social marketing efforts.

Engagement Hinges on Knowing What Brand Followers Really Want (and Here’s What they Want)

Regardless of the channel, marketing results hinge on a brand’s relevance to the buyer. Find out what your audience wants from your email and social media marketing to boost ROI and grow your business.

Marketingcharts.com just released data from a new Epsilon/Wylei Research study which reveals what consumers want from brand emails, social networks and other communications. As you read through this list of what subscribers want most when engaging with a brand, review the type of emails and social status updates that your brand is publishing and re-tweak your communications strategy in order to deliver more of what your audience members want most.

What do brand followers want most when they subscribe to emails or follow brands on social networks?

Study after study, including this one, reiterates the fact that what consumers want most when they subscribe to emails or follow brands online is relevance; specifically, information and offers that are relevant to their needs. If your email marketing is one long sales pitch, it’s probably not going to get read very often. Focus on the common interests, needs and problems common to members of your target markets in order to start the conversation about how your products or services can meet their needs, not the other way around.

Here are the six types of brand communication that US consumers said was most influential to them when asked, of the communications they read, what type of brand communications positively influenced their buying decision:

• 53% – Communication of relevant information / offers to my needs
• 33% – Communication personalized with their name, current rewards points, program status, etc.
• 31% – Communication that provided information about a product or service they had purchased
• 27% – Communication on topics that interested them
• 11% – Promotional offers not previously relevant to their needs
• 10% – A newsletter

Other categories on the list included advertisements about products/services the consumer was already familiar with, communications soliciting information about needs and preferences (but not trying to sell anything). Only 1% of consumers said that an unsolicited marketing communication (from a brand they had not subscribed to or followed) positively impacted their purchasing decision, which aligns with the generally low percentage of return a business should expect from any type of “cold calling.”

What will motivate brand followers to subscribe to your brand emails and follow you on social networks?

This Social Media Quickstarter slide show below from Constant Contact provides some helpful insights when it comes to the reasons that consumers subscribe to brand emails; presumably, they follow brands on social networks for many of the same reasons. The top six reasons cited as motivation for subscribing to emails from a business or non-profit include:

• 58% to receive discounts and special offers
• 39% to take part in a specific promotion
• 37% because they are a customer or supporter of the organization
• 26% to gain access to exclusive content
• 26% to stay informed an on-going basis
• 25% to support a business or non-profit organization they like

When you boil down the top reasons people subscribe to brand emails, they fall into two main groupings: personal connection and special opportunities. Some consumers subscribe because they feel an emotional connection that makes them feel personally connected to – and therefore interested in – the brand. Others subscribe in order to get access to special offers, participate in a specific campaign, get alerts about upcoming opportunities and for the possibility of receiving exclusive, insider-only information and offers.