Don’t overdo it
Social media marketers who have successfully attracted fans of their brand to their Facebook or Twitter page have only just begun their real task: keeping those fans interested and engaged, and hopefully turning them into advocates on the brand’s behalf.
According to a September 2010 survey by social media marketing agency Cone, incentives remain the biggest draw for consumers connecting with brands online. New-media users expect deals, but also look for brands to help solve their problems and get their feedback on products and services.
What they aren’t looking for is equally important. The top two reasons new-media users said they stopped following brands online, tied at 58%, were brands sending out too many messages or acting irresponsibly. A majority of respondents also complained about content being irrelevant.
These findings are similar to those in a DDB Worldwide and Opinionway Research study of Facebook brand fans worldwide. There, the top reason for unsubscribing was a lack of interest in the brand, followed closely by complaints about information being published too frequently. The third reason was identical: uninteresting or irrelevant information.
While brands publishing too little appears to be a problem for some users—and certainly won’t help engagement—it will not typically get fans to actively unsubscribe from a page. If content is improved, fans and followers will still be there to see it. But too much content or the wrong kind of content will drive consumers away, the last thing brand marketers will hope for after making the effort to attract them in the first place.
Source eMarketer