Clearly, a key company and individual goal is to have people “like” their social media efforts enough that they become loyal to those efforts. When too many followers abandon social media sites, there is a big problem for marketers.
So, why do people “unfollow” brands? If we can understand the reasons, we can improve our social media approach.
As Andrea Lehr writes for HubSpot:
“One of the most important things a brand can do is understand its target audience. What do they worry about? Where do they hang out? How do they prefer to interact with brands?”
“When they dive into answering these questions, many businesses discover that social media are a goldmine for their marketing efforts. Not only are social networks a popular place for people to hang out on, but also consumers expect brands to have a presence on social media. (And when people follow a brand on Twitter, 72% of followers are more likely to make a future purchase from that brand.)”
“To capitalize on these trends, businesses focus on getting new followers in the door — but that’s not all you should be concerned about. Just because you’ve convinced someone to follow your company’s account doesn’t mean they’ll stay. In today’s competitive market, retention is crucial. So what causes people to stop following brands on twitter? BuzzStream and Fractl conducted a survey with more than 900 respondents to better understand why.”
The survey revealed three main reasons for people unfollowing brands: (1) Too much of content is self-promotional or uninteresting. (2) There is too much emphasis on automated messaging; and too little emphasis on personal engagement. (3) Hashtags and platform-specific symbols are used improperly.
Click the image to read more from HubSpot.
Based on the information discovered in the survey, if a consumer goes through the trouble to unfollow a certain brand on social media, it doesn’t have to do with the product being marketed, but the content of the post itself. I know that if there is a brand that I follow that over-posts, I usually tend to unfollow them.
Based on the information collected from the survey, the majority of people tend to unfollow brands based on the content of the post, rather than the good or service being advertised. This is concerning for businesses because the product could be great, but with social media everything is about image. I know that I usually tend to unfollow any brands or companies that over-post and bombard their followers.
I believe there are a variety of reasons as for why people will unfollow brands. If they he a bad experience with a certain brand it will lead them to associate that experience with that brand and not want to associate with it again. Also if the brand advertises too much people could perceive it as bad for advertising on such a frequent basis. I think brands need to make sure when they advertise they get their point across and not be vague in any way.
Wow. I was surprised by the statistic provided about social medias influence on future purchases. “(And when people follow a brand on Twitter, 72% of followers are more likely to make a future purchase from that brand.)” That is just amazing to me. The three reasons provided for why people stop following companies on social media really make sense and seem reasonable.
The key factor is the monotony of a brand’s posts to social media. If i open my feed and see multiple of the same type of brand centered, generic post from a particular brand, i will unfollow. As the article stated, brands should shoot for more personal engagement and interaction with its followers in its posts.
I could see how unfollowing brands could be a huge problem in the marketing world. I think the first step in gaining followers is making sure you promote your social media as much as you can in person. Then the key to maintaining followers is staying relevant and consistent without seeming needy. Brands should make an effort to use their social media accounts enough that they appear on their followers’ timelines at least once a day. However, what they are posting is just as important as how often they post; if a brand posts the same promotions over and over again, it becomes repetitive and annoying. Brands should be sure to engage with their followers. Also (referring to the comment about hashtags), if a brand appears to be out of the loop with what is “accepted” as social media lingo, today’s young followers perceive these brands as outdated and uninteresting.
People follow brands because they are interested in the brand or the products they sell. When a brand is not active enough on social media, people tend to unfollow them because they are not posting any refreshing new content. 68% of our respondents said that they would want a brand to post between 1-2 times per day on Facebook; 63% on Twitter; 72% on LinkedIn. By staying active on social media, people are more aware of their products and brand which will lead to people not unfollowing. It makes sense that the most important thing to remember is that followers expect high quality content that fits their interests. So with every post a company should be aware that it effects who will follow and unfollow them based on that post.
Social media is a big part of marketing. When you like a page, you can invite others to that page and market a business band indirectly. However, advertising those social media pages depends on what audience your tarketisbg. Life alert isn’t going to advertise their page to a teenagers Facebook page. It’s always important to make sure you keep page update and entrusting. Lack of content and a stale page can lead one to become uninterested in your business.
In today’s day of age, social media is key. If a company uses it in a negative way or an improper way, followers will unfollow them. For example, I will unfollow a company is they do not personalize it and make it all about them. I want to see how they connect with the community and what they give back. Not just their product. Also, if they do not show up on my account often enough then I know that they do not use their social media in a way they should to connect with their customers
Reblogged this on lucasbracken.
I think that a lot of people unfollow brands on social media because they tend to over post. Not only that but brands also have a tendency to post things supporting other companies and if we wanted to see the other brand we would follow them. Brands tend to post every hour about the same event and it is aggravating when the only thing you see on your feed is a company’s promotions for a store. I think a way to get more people to follow them and to keep their current followers would be to have contests where you can win 20% off or free shipping something that will draw in more customers. They can also try to talk about things that are currently happening to engage with their customers and make it feel more personal.
This was a very interesting article to read. I personally have checked a brand’s twitter before going out and buying it. It shows how they appreciate their customer base and what kind of people may be into this specific brand. Social media is definitely a huge impact on a company this day in age. I would like a company that engages with their consumers via social media and can also be a source of entertainment to the public. That will keep me going back and checking the page each day, therefore causing me to want to invest in the brand as well.