Social media influence grows and grows

Gordon Peters
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 11:54

IT Industry - Market

Social media websites and networks continue their rapid expansion and extend their influence around the globe, with the latest research also showing that social media is increasingly being used for retail brand awareness and brand image building by retailers to attract and influence customers, to study demand patterns, improve brand reputation and to provide customer support.

According to IDC's Retail Insights report on the main opportunities being created by social networks for retailing, retailers of all kinds and sizes are being drawn into the social media net, with the top 10 social networks now having surpassed 1.3 billion members and increasingly influencing customer preferences by shaping their attitudes and behaviour.

Looking ahead, IDC expects that Web 2.0 technologies will play an 'extremely important role across all retail segments, 'adding that  'social networks, blogs, and price comparison Web sites can all be used to attract and influence customers, to study demand patterns, to improve brand image, and to support customers after their purchases.'

IDC also gives some advice to retailers, suggesting that they should establish a presence on social networks 'not only with the direct objective of attracting consumers to their Web sites or stores, but most importantly to gather useful information, in a non-intrusive way, on their current and potential customers. In other words, retailers should learn to listen at customers who are engaged in social communities.'

The study also revealed that:

'¢    The innovative nature of social media can turn multiple account profiles into an opportunity for retailers to capitalize on same-shopper sales growth prospects.

'¢    Retailers' presence across social media networks needs to be well balanced, allowing consumers to feel in control of their own personal spheres. A friendly, interactive presence on a social network can greatly improve brand image and help the company gather extremely useful, unstructured data about demand trends.

'¢    The use of mobile social networks has grown significantly, in a process that will most likely bridge the gap between online and physical shopping.

IDC says that its study also examined some examples of retailers that have entered the 'treacherous realm of social networking' and that some were successful while others were not, but 'both cases provide useful lessons.' Of course if you're a retailer and want to find out more about what lessons were learnt you'll have to go to IDC's website and buy the full report, titled 'Business Strategy: Social Commerce Opportunities, Strategies and Risks for retailers Globally'.