Social Media Pays: People More Likely to Buy from Brands they Follow

A new study from market research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies shows that social media might actually pay off—in real dollars in addition to the traditional branding and influence lift. The survey of over 1500 consumers showed that they were more likely to buy from and recommend brands they follow on Twitter and Facebook.

51% of those surveyed said they were more likely to buy from a brand after following them on Facebook; 67% said they were more likely to buy after following on Twitter. Brands also got a boost in recommendations: 60% of Facebook fans and 79% of Twitter followers were more likely to recommend a brand to their friends.

This is only natural, says eConsultancy:

The most popular reason people follow brands in social media is to receive discounts. But there were also many people who responded that they follow as a customer of the brand and to show their support of it. On Twitter, that reason was less popular. Only 2% of respondents followed a brand to show their support. More often, they are looking for discounts, new information and exclusive content.

That makes a lot of sense, as Facebook’s fan ability is more geared toward letting users express their appreciation for something.

And here’s our grain of salt: this is a survey. This only shows what people think they’re doing. It may be that people don’t want to admit they’re only following Nike to look cool. However, with questions like these, I’d assume there’s at least a little boost for the brands in terms of dollars and recommendations.

What do you think? Are these people accurately reporting their spending and recommendations?

This blog was reposted from http://www.marketingpilgrim.com, and originally posted by Jordan McCollum

CAMA Board Members Attend Regional Retreat

Two Charlotte AMA board members attended the recent two-day AMA Regional Summit, held in Richmond, VA, in early March. Sarah Burkhart, incoming Secretary for 2010-2011 and Randy Mintken, incoming President for 2010-2011, met with 30 other AMA Professional Chapters from around the mid-Atlantic region to share best practices and discuss successful strategies for member outreach and retention.

Photo caption: AMA Professional Chapter Board members attend the AMA Regional Summit in Richmond, VA.

Pennies and dollars

"Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves."

I'm not sure this is true. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if you watch the dollars, you don't have to worry so much about pennies.

Big brands don't sweat the small expenses. They don't hassle about a return, or a little coupon fraud or the last penny per square foot on the rent in a prime location. In fact, they understand that there's a powerful honest signal sent when you don't worry about the tiny expenses. It shows confidence.

My first business was running a ski club from my high school to a nearby ski area. Most of the other clubs rented expensive coach buses. I rented school buses. That one shift saved thousands of dollars. As a result, I had plenty of money to spend on snacks for the bus, no hassles about refunds if you broke your leg... it was easy to be generous because I'd saved so much on the bus.

So many small businesspeople are crippled by their relationship with money. I know... I used to window shop at restaurants and then go home and eat Spaghetti-Os. The thing is, if you run out of money you lose the game. That's a given. But what's the best strategy for not running out of money?

I don't think the answer is to worry insanely about little expenses (saving $20 on your blogging expenses in exchange for distracting ads, for example.) In fact, too much worrying about cash is the work of the lizard brain, it's a symptom of someone self-sabotaging the work.

The thing to do is invest in scary innovations, large leaps, significant savings. Instead of renting a skimpy booth at the big trade show and scrimping on all the extras, why not rent a limo and drive the key buyers around town, or sponsor the awards luncheon? When you skimp all the time, you signal that you're struggling.

This content was reposted from Seth Godin's blog, http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Marketing Through the Recession to Recovery: The Charlotte AMA Focuses on Strategies for Business Growth March 10th

In 2008, John Doerr, one of America's most famous venture capitalists, called the current recession "the greatest economic opportunity of our lifetime." In today's economic environment, it's even more critical to demonstrate marketing's impact on organizational growth and the bottom line. To do so, marketers must learn how to reframe their conversations and build a business case that resonates with top executives.

Join the Charlotte AMA at our March meeting as a panel of CEOs discuss how the worst of times for the economy as a whole can often be the best of times for individual firms to create value by offering products or services that allow customers to cut costs and retain their profitability.

Learn how you and your company can benefit from the opportunities your competitors are leaving on the table as they pull back in the current economy.

To learn more and to register, please visit: http://tiny.cc/eZ5qn