Study Reveals 93% of Americans Expect Companies To Have A Social Media Presence.

It’s one of the first questions I get when I’m speaking at an event, no matter what topic’s on the program. Whether it’s mom marketing, green products, new trends, or travel/tourism, the question is always the same: Should my company have a social media presence?

Before this new social media study, I had a pat answer. You already have a social media presence online. Your customers are already talking about you. Tweaking your brand. Kvetching about your customer service. Tagging you. Whether you like it or not.

You’re simply not participating in the conversation. Yet. Then I usually wrap up my spiel with a plea to jump on board to join the party in progress.

But now I’ve got some powerful new ammunition on my side, thanks to the 2008 Business in Social Media Study, conducted by Cone. According to the research, if your company does not have a social media presence online, you are missing out on the 93% of Americans who believe you should, and the 85% of Americans who are expecting to interact with your company through social media.

This study should crush any remaining questions about whether corporate social media interaction is necessary. A solid 60% of Americans are now interacting with companies using social media –and one in four are interacting more than once a week.

Customer satisfaction, always at the top of every company’s To Do List, is also now proven to be higher for businesses with a social media presence. 56% of consumers feel a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they interact through social media.

This encouraging stat strongly jibes with one of the emerging themes from various Social Media Competitive Landscape research studies I’ve conducted for some of the major online players. As they say, ‘the Internet changed everything’ — and seldom is this more true than with customer care. When “Tom” posted his white T-shirted self on every new MySpace page and used the site’s pioneering social media tools to invite millions to IM, email and be his new bff, it made other customer care strategies feel stale and corporate. The majority of his MySpace friends likely have no idea that their own personal Go-To-Geek “Tom” is actually the gazillion dollar co-founder of the empire. Not since Steve Case’s weekly letter to AOL members has a Founder been so sociable. 

This is clearly promising news for brands looking to build or deepen relationships. Rather than view a company’s social media efforts as an intrusion, Americans are welcoming the open door to discussion.

More numbers from the Cone study reveal that Consumers believe:

• Companies should use social networks to solve their problems (43%).
• Companies should solicit feedback on their products and services (41%) via social media.
• Companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand (37%) through social media.
• Companies should market to consumers (25%) using social media.

And lest you think that social media only attracts the collegiate Facebook crowd, the study also showed that the most lucrative higher-income households are expecting social media interaction with companies they do business with. Households with incomes of $75K+ believe that companies should seek to reach them via social media and two-thirds of the wealthiest households say they feel a stronger connection to brands they can interact with online.  This bodes very well for categories such as travel and leisure and technology.

What does this mean for your business?  Do you still need convincing?

Social media has rapidly gone from a Maybe to a Must-Have in your marketing plan. Your customers are expecting you to be present in social networking communities, to provide social networking features on your own sites,  to interact with, listen to and engage them in authentic and meaningful conversation. 

Are you going to say “no” to the 93% of consumers expecting you to join the conversation?

This study was conducted online September 11-12 2008 and surveyed 1,092 adults.

Thanks to Erika Preuss at Business Social Networking.”