Brands fall short of engaging customers through popular social networking sites

Survey shows only five per cent of people join branded groups and communities on third party sites

Research from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has found that just seven per cent of people said they signed up to branded pages on third party social networking sites, such as Facebook, and only five per cent had joined branded groups and communities. Chat Moderators believes that brands are wrong to use third party sites as their only means of social networking and many have discounted the power of their own website.

For many brands, third party social networking sites have seemed like an easy way of tapping into an already formed audience to promote themselves, but as this research proves, owning a page on a third party site may not be as effective as first thought.

Rob Marcus, director, Chat Moderators comments, “Third party sites such as Facebook and Bebo are mainly used for keeping in touch with friends and sharing pictures, so any brand that believes that they can sell to this community effectively may be disappointed. A consumer may visit a brands’ page on a third party site because they are interested in a particular product, but they will quickly return to their friends pages. By using sites like Facebook, brands may be missing an opportunity to reinforce values and in my opinion, they are too quick to dismiss the opportunities of their own website.

The website is an opportunity to showcase and cross-sell products, and having a forum or chat room available to them is an added opportunity for consumers to engage with others and obtain advice about the brands’ services or products. It is my belief that the website is where brands should be interacting with their customers and whilst it will do no harm to have a presence on a third party website, it should not be the only method of engagement.”