Most people not discussing brands on social sites, research finds

January 11, 2012

Many marketers are using Facebook and Twitter to communicate with customers, but only about a quarter of consumers who use these social sites are posting comments on companies and brands, new research shows. As reported by eMarketer.com, the market research company AYTM found that 57.8 percent of Facebook users in the United States had not mentioned a brand in their status updates as of October 2011.

The good news for marketers is that only half a percent of Facebook users posted exclusively negative comments about brands. More often, Facebook users commented on brands in a positive way (just over 25 percent) or they mixed positive and negative mentions (16.4 percent). Twitter users reported similar commenting patterns.

Consumers are typically not learning about new brands, products or services from social media, the research found. Approximately 26 percent of respondents said they sometimes do, but a similar number reported that they never hear about new offerings via social media. When they’re online, U.S. Internet users are more likely to learn about new products from ads or shopping sites. Old media like TV, radio and print are still where consumers most frequently discover new brands, products and services, the research found. — Greg Beaubien

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