Page 40 - Optus Future of Business Report 2013
Basic HTML Version
39
Much has been said about the power
of social media, and this may have
inspired many businesses to dive into
the channel before fully considering
how it can strategically support their
customer engagement strategy.
Businesses are eager to embrace social
media to engage customers, with 86%
of organisations expecting to use this
channel in three to five years compared
to 62% today. Organisations say they
are led by brand building, followed by
improving customer experience and
being seen as innovative as the drivers
for using social media, while customer
satisfaction is a top measure of success
for 46% of organisations, followed by
uptake (41%).
However, only 14% of organisations
offering social media say this channel
is fully developed and operational.
Businesses identify difficulties in using
social media, ranging from the cultural
in 39% of cases to difficulties providing
a consistent customer experience in
nearly a third of cases.
The level of channel maturity,
implementation challenges
and lack of clarity regarding the
channel purpose may explain why
social media has the widest gap
between organisations plans and
consumer expectations.
Only 4% of customers used social media
to interact with brands in the last three
months, and 8% expect to prefer to use it
in three to five years. Nearly six out of ten
consumers who use the channel say they
are at least somewhat satisfied with their
experience (59%). Twenty-one percent
say it is simple to use and 17% said
saves time, while 55% of organisations
believe it offers ease and convenience for
customers or helps them to offer their
brand around the clock (41%).
Of those consumers who don’t use social
media to interact with organisations,
more than a third say it is unsuitable for
their purposes, while a quarter are happy
with the channels they already use.
However, as more organisations merge
their traditional online portals with
social media, it is becoming harder for
consumers to easily identify whether
they are engaging via social media or
more traditional online channels.
TOP CITED BENEFITS OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA
(%)
EASE AND
CONVENIENCE
FOR CUSTOMERS
EASIER FOR
CUSTOMERS TO
RESEARCH OR
FIND INFORMATION
55
21
41
40
17
16 16
15 12
2
24/7 AVAILABILITY
OF THE
ORGANISATION
SIMPLE
AND
EASY
TO USE
IT SAVES
TIME
IT TAKES
LESS EFFORT
THAN OTHER
CHANNELS
I DON'T
HAVE TO
TALK TO
A PERSON
IT IS MORE
CONVENIENT
THAN OTHER
CHANNELS
IT IS A
CHEAPER
OPTION
BUSINESS
CONSUMER
SOCIAL MEDIA
SOCIAL MEDIA
41% 40%
50%
TO
BuILd
BRANd
TO IMPROve
CuSTOMeR
exPeRIeNCe
TO Be
SeeN AS
INNOvATIve
moST cITeD ReaSoNS FoR USING SocIal meDIa
SocIal
meDIa
OF ORGANISATIONS ARe exPeCTING
TO uSe The SOCIAL MedIA ChANNeL
IN ThRee TO FIve yeARS
86
%
