How Business is Adopting Social Media Tools

Social media is changing the way businesses are connecting with both internal and external customers, but which social media tools are the most popular ?

According to social media research from E Tailing Group the answer is

• Facebook fan pages (86 percent);
• Twitter publishing (65 percent);
• customer reviews (55 percent);
• blogs (55 percent); and
• viral videos (50 percent).

“However, when asked which tools lead in terms of generating the greatest increase in sales, respondents ranked customer reviews as the most effective with 78 percent of 100 responses ranking it as number one.”

And the main reasons for the social media strategies?

• greater customer engagement;
• increasing brand loyalty; and
• mobilizing advocates to drive word-of-mouth.

This research was encouraging for me as I have had many conversations with people on trains, planes and automobiles (!) re the concern of managers toward social media. Indeed often their answer is not to embrace but to block in fear of criticism. I like the fact that the research shows that social media is not just about engagement, it is about hard results when it comes to the bottom line effect of social media.