The value of online brand represenatives
A new report today by DEI worldwide (which specialises in “conversational outreach”) touts the value of companies having online reps.
According to DEI’s survey, half (54%) of consumers think that information from a brand representative is more valuable than what’s found on a company website (actually I am surprised company sites score so highly).
The report (“Engaging Consumers Online”) has some useful stats including:
Social media sites (the definition of which is message boards, social networks, blogs or video sharing sites) are the main source of information about companies or brands (70%).
This compares to 68% who visited the company sites to find out about brands, 57% who consulted online news, 49% who went to review sites and 44% who went to wikis.
More to the point, 45% of those who searched for brand info via social media spread the word, compared to 36% who used company websites or news media.
Meanwhile half (49%) made a purchase based on what they found – useful ammo for any marketer looking to convince in-house teams about the value of social media.
Though it’s not 100% clear by what DEA defines as an “online brand representative” – I assume they mean an actual person who has some kind of social media presence – once consumers have engaged with him / her, 67% will pass on the info they’ve received and 62% value their input more than run of the mill ads they may be exposed to.
Again, a great proof point for why it’s worthwhile for brands to have named reps on services such as Twitter, such as Kelly Feller (Intel) or Scott Monty (Ford)
DEA’s full report is available as a PDF here.
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