30 May
2008
News

newmediaboutique goes social

We're known for being a pretty sociable bunch anyway (with the exception of Tim until he's had his morning cuppa!) but we've just launched our very own page on Facebook - if you like us (we hope you do!), you can become a Fan so you can keep in touch and get to know us in a whole new way.

Join us in the wonderful world of Web 2.0!

Brands 'missing a trick' with social network groups

Major brands are failing to capitalise on the surprising number of consumer support groups on social media sites.

The 2008 Social Media Sectors report, from digital agency Tamar, compared the number of unofficial consumer groups on Facebook, Myspace and Bebo with the top ten retail, financial and travel brands.

The report identified missed opportunities for these brands to interact with their customers through social networks.

Just 30% of major organisations from the financial sector have an official online presence on the social media scene, the report found.

In stark contrast, four in five brands (80%) are the subject of unofficial consumer groups. Although unofficial, many of these groups are actually supportive of the brands, Tamar said.

However, two of the major organisations have fallen victim to over 70 consumer groups with negative related content and a poor official presence.

In terms of sector, the report found that all the leading organisations from the travel sector have a great deal of consumer support on social networks through unofficial groups.

However, few brands have registered an official presence to capitalise any support that is evolving from social media.

The report found that the few organisations (30%) from the travel sector that registered an official presence on social networks were the subject of on average 59% more unofficial supporter groups than the brands that did not have an official presence.

Conversely, retailers are most in touch with Social Media, with all top brands holding an official presence on at least one major social network.

Brands from the retail sector are also the focus of large amounts of social network comment with more than 16 times the number of dedicated unofficial groups as travel brands and over 10 times as many as financial brands.

In addition the report reveals that 80% of brands from the retail sector were the subject of over 100 customer support groups.

Henry Elliss, head of social media at Tamar, said: "Failure by brands to engage with groups set up by consumers could see opportunities to engage with customers and boost revenue slip by, where a proactive strategy is not in place"
"However social networks need to be much clearer in their differentiation between official and unofficial activity so that it is clear to consumers and brands what exactly it is that they are engaging in," Ellis added.