Last week, we posted about “Are You Always “On”? Living in a Connected World.” (1, 2, 3) As we noted, whether we are referring to companies’ behavior on social media or to our own efforts on social media, care must always be taken — and bad/inappropriate behavior avoided.
Consider these observations and charts from a study conducted by Sprout Social (“Bringing Businesses & People Closer Together”):
“Plenty of brands are doubling down on social snark [an attitude or expression of mocking irreverence and sarcasm] and reaping the benefits of more media visibility. But does this correlate to sales? To understand how brand personality impacts purchasing decisions, Sprout Social surveyed 1,000 consumers on which traits they want brands to demonstrate on social and what action specific brand responses such as humor or friendliness prompt.”
“The limelight most often falls on big brands with big social personalities, but what’s in it for the rest of us? While 75% of consumers believe there’s value in brands exhibiting humor on social, only 36% are willing to purchase from brands they believe are funny. And those brands have to bring it, because funny can quickly slide into annoying if not fresh, relevant, and interesting. That’s a big problem when 50% of consumers say they would unfollow a brand that annoyed them on social and 23% would walk away from your brand completely by vowing to never buy you again. Ouch.”
Click the image below for the full report.
