Feb 17, 2010

Focus on Facebook to Drive Social SuccessBy Kevin ErtellMultiChannelMerchant.com

Every merchant is talking about social media, and there plenty of opinions about how to do it right. We thought it was important to check in with customers to get their thoughts.

As part of a study of nearly 10,000 visitors to the largest U.S. e-commerce sites, ForeSee Results wanted to use the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) to examine these issues. The ACSI is able to show how different elements of a shopper’s interactions with a company (including on social media) affect their purchase intent, loyalty, and recommendations.

What we found is validation that social media is a viable marketing strategy when we understand what our customers want and know which social media platforms they frequent.

Key findings include:

· 56% of shoppers to top e-retail Websites who interact with social media sites have elected to “friend,” “follow” or “subscribe” to a retailer on a social networking site like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

· Facebook is, by far, the best place to reach shoppers—it’s where customers already are, and it’s also where they want to hear from retailers.

· Customers mainly interact with retailers on social media sites to learn about products and promotions—a marketer’s dream come true.

Read complete article.