Commentary

Why Brands Need Searchable Social Content

People-LaughingThe majority of Twitter and Facebook users -- 83% and 71%, respectively -- expect a response from a brand within the same day of posting. Some 71% of consumers who experience a quick and effective response are more likely to recommend that brand to others, compared with 19% who do not receive any response, according to a study released Thursday.

The findings from the recent NM Incite study analyze customer service on social media. The biggest issue: 36% report having problems solved quickly and effectively, while only 14% report that the company responds quickly but does not resolve the issue, and 10% report never receiving a response at all.

While the quick response supports a positive experience, what if that response accompanied a piece of content that consumers should share? Not only share across social sites, but the brand would optimize the content to index in search engine rankings on Google, Bing and Yahoo.

Just a thought after hearing some of the speakers at the OMMA Social Data LA conference on Wednesday say that marketers on Facebook continue to raise the frequency cap on targeted ads, flooding Fan pages with what they call in-your-face ads. While sponsored or paid ads remain the main source of ad revenue for Facebook and Twitter, brands need to start thinking more about shareable earned content that indexes in search engines.

When it comes to social, some advice emerging from the conference points to leveraging location and creating content to help consumers shop well and make better decisions, get food on the table more quickly, and organize their lives. Build a relationship with each individual person. Replace -- or augment -- ads with shareable content that consumers can post on blogs, Web sites or forums, and companies can optimize to serve up in search engine queries.

Look at where the brand's target audience spends money. Angel Anderson, experience director at CP+B, said brands need to create content that lives on, rather than building on a comment in a Facebook news stream. Anderson said, "what if Facebook became an ad-free zone"? It means brands would need to create shareable content, rather than have an ad serve up in a feed.

2 comments about "Why Brands Need Searchable Social Content".
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  1. Kate Hutchinson from EMC, October 26, 2012 at 9:52 a.m.

    It would be nice if a link to the survey were provided.

  2. Lawrence Blumberg from ORMLA, October 26, 2012 at 1:26 p.m.

    Indeed. Would like read that social customer service survey!

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