Survey Shows Customers Value Honest, Friendly Social Media Marketing

Marketers are constantly looking for new ways to provide unique, memorable customer experiences, but does it pay to be “cool” or funny?

Sprout Social recently conducted a survey in Q2 2017 to determine how customers view brands that want to be perceived as “cool,” specifically via social media. The “Q2 Sprout Social Index” discovered that three-out-of-four customers appreciate humor from brands. However, only 43 percent said they want “trendy” behavior from brands via social media.

Above all else, customers value “honest” behavior out of their brands (86 percent). This is followed by friendliness (83 percent) and helpfulness (78 percent).

Approximately 83 percent of customers claim that they are “eager” to see characteristics of brands’ personalities come to life via social media channels, such as Facebook and Twitter.

“Where a brand chooses to put its personality on display can be just as crucial to connecting with it audience as what it actually says,” wrote the authors of the report. “Consumers are notoriously opinionated about what they want from brands on each social platform.”

B2B Marketers and Social Media Usage

As social media becomes an important link between brands and their customers, research shows that B2B marketers are investing more in these channels.

“The CMO Survey Highlights and Insights Report” found that in February 2017, B2B product marketers were putting 9.4 percent of their marketing budgets toward social media. Within the next 12 months, they intended to increase this percentage to 11.4 percent, and they see it rising to 17 percent in the next five years.

At the moment, the CMOs of B2B services companies say they dedicate 10.7 percent of their marketing budgets to social media. They believe this will increase to 13.2 percent in the next 12 months, and 17.9 percent within the next five years.