Big Brands are not Answering their Customers’ Tweets

According to a study from digital marketing firm Acquity Group, 71% of biggest retail brands are not responding to their customers’ tweets. The study included 50 retailers in Interbrand’s Report, Best Retail Brands, and from their findings they found that 90% of the large retailers are active on Twitter, but that only 29% of them use it to actively engage with their customers.

Other social networking sites proved more favorable. Retailers using Pinterest (60%) and Instagram (42%) are engaging more with customers on these sites compared to Twitter.

Jay Dettling, executive vice president at Acquity says that most brands are signed up to the major social networks, but that they often fail to understand how this fits into their overall business strategy. He also noted that consumers may buy from a different retailer if they see their messages being ignored. Overall, this can be quite hurtful to a brand and can damage their reputation online. Brands need to avoid the sporadic use of social media and map out a plan before they engage in using social media platforms.

Brand entrepreneur, Billionaire Chris Burch noted “The best brands listen to consumers, they respond, they participate, they care – and then they sell much more product.  Its key to winning in today’s environment.”

The study evaluated 50 companies by looking at quantitative metrics across a number of marketing channels which included in-store, website, mobile, search and email. The companies were then awarded points based on their level of interaction with their customers across these channels. They were also assessed on a qualitative basis for their consistency across a number of social marketing channels.

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