Brands really are still questioning whether they need to be proactive in social, as well as what quantifiable returns they can hope to attain? These were some of my observations as I conversed with brand managers and suppliers at the recent Retail Bulletin Customer Loyalty Conference, in London.
For brands keen to implement a new loyalty programme or optimise an existing programme, a fundamental requirement has to be to have a handle on how a customer engages with the brand across the multitude of touch-points in order to ascertain how any program might influence this behaviour. For this very reason brands need to be monitoring the space to benchmark and evaluate their programs.
Social is increasingly becoming one of the most important areas that brands can leverage to become a true touch-point. Without a doubt, brands that decide they don’t want to proactively participate and engage with consumers face the threat of missing vast opportunities to grow and deepen their relationship with existing customers, increase share of wallet and grow their customer base through advocates.
There has been extensive research conducted to suggest that customers that interface with a brand across multiple channels tend to have longer customer lifespans and a higher lifetime customer value versus those that are not cross channel. Even more convincingly, research from Bain & Co. discovered that customers engaging with a brand across social channels spent on average between 20 to 40 percent more with that brand versus those customers that were not active in this manner.
By observing spend by early adopters in the social space in relation to their brand marketing budgets, the pioneers are investing huge proportions of budget into social activity to support the value that social has been able to drive for their business.
IFTY AHMED 
I definitely agree that social plays a huge role in engaging with customers, but it appears to be so difficult for larger companies to get it right! Without generalising too much, many of the initiatives I have come across have lacked sincerity and breathes a deep cynicism about the whole thing. Companies know they need to do it but can’t get it right. Of course there are success stories but I can’t think of that many recent stand-out-initiatives.
I completely agree with you. I think a lot of this is led by the fact that those brands that do become active do it on the back of having to be seen as being active rather than having any clear strategy or KPI measures that they’re striving for. Part of the confusion, in my opinion, is also the definition of what a social strategy might entail. Social activity reaches across hygiene elements, such as enabling all your communications to be shareable, as well as more considered strategic social platforms for engagement or specific tactical campaigns or customer service channels. There is a lot to consider creating a multitude of opportunities as well as learning curves. Unfortunately, despite a growing number of individuals attaining the right understanding to empower businesses, an organisational and mindset change is often required in order to succeed in this space. There is also a big misconception that social does not have a place in B2B marketing….something I completely disagree with. Rather, we should consider how social can create and enhance communications across this sector.