Are you going to contribute to digital waste?
10/01/2012
Online is now widely seen as the new Holy Grail for marketers. More and more businesses are putting all of their spend into online and social media. Are you thinking of joining them? Think carefully.
A new global report from the world’s largest research consultancy, TNS, shows that over half of consumers worldwide don’t want to be bothered when they’re taking part in social networks! This surprising discovery means that many businesses are wasting time and money trying to reach people online. And they simply don’t realise that many people resent big brands invading their social networks.
The findings were revealed by TNS’s Digital Life study, the largest global study ever carried out into online behaviour. It examined how more than 72,000 consumers in 60 countries behave online and why they do what they do.
The headlong rush online has seen businesses around the world develop profiles on social networks, such as Facebook or YouTube, to speak to customers quickly and cheaply. However, the research by TNS shows that if these activities are not carefully targeted, they are wasted on over half of the target audience.
Friendless Facebook accounts and unread blogs
TNS’s Digital Life study asked consumers around the world whether they actually want to engage with brands on social networking websites – either to find out more or to make a purchase. The study found that 57 per cent of people in developed markets do not want to engage with brands via social media – rising to 60 per cent in the US and 61 per cent in the UK! Instead, poorly conceived and badly targeted digital strategies are generating mountains of digital waste, from friendless Facebook accounts to blogs no one reads.
The result is huge volumes of noise, which is polluting the digital world and making it harder for brands to be heard – presenting a major challenge for businesses trying to enter into dialogue with consumers online.
Although 54 per cent of people admit that social networks are a good place to learn about products, the research shows that brands must harness digital more carefully if they are to use it to their advantage and deepen relationships with customers and prospects.
“Winning and keeping customers is harder than ever,” said Matthew Froggatt, Chief Development Officer at TNS. He added, “The online world undoubtedly presents massive opportunities for brands, however it is only through deploying precisely tailored marketing strategies that they will be able to realise this potential. Choosing the wrong channel, or simply adding to the cacophony of online noise, risks alienating potential customers and impacting business growth.”
He went on to explain, “Digital waste is the accumulation of thousands of brands rushing online without thinking who they want to talk to – and why. Many brands have recognised the vast potential audiences available to them on social networks; however they are failing to understand that these spaces belong to the consumer and their presence needs to be proportionate and justified.”
“The key is to understand your target audience and what they want from your brand – social networks aren’t always the right approach. If consumers in one market don’t want to be talked to, can you use an alternative online method – creating owned digital media platforms, targeted sponsorship or search campaigns – to engage in an appropriate way that will achieve business results, without adding to the digital waste pile?”