Brands need to shape up for a social Christmas

I know, I know. A post involving the ‘c-word’ already. But for brands wanting to maximise recession-hit holiday retail, it’s already high on the agenda – and many are realising that word of mouth could be the key to their success. The American digital marketers at OneUpWeb have just released their 2009 Holiday Report, and one of the key findings is that WOM is driving on and offline retail in the US like never before.

A recent Penn State study found that one in five tweets mention specific brands or services. But according to eMarketer research cited in the report, consumers aren’t just airing opinions – they’re getting much more direct in their referrals, with 25% of US social media users now directly linking to a company, product or service as part of their regular interaction online. As the report authors conclude, ‘long-term growth on social sites may play a more influential role in consumer behaviour this holiday season than ever before.’

It seems no coincidence that The Wall Street Journal is reporting that online retailers are focusing on customer service rather than big discounts to secure festive sales. It’s the experience of a brand that really gets people talking, so in a word of mouth dominated environment, it’s no wonder the likes of Amazon, Zappos and Ebay are devising ways to restore the ‘wow’ factor into the customer journey, rather than pushing cheap sales at the cost of the quality of engagement.

It’s a lesson companies around the world need to start learning: this trend is only going to increase.

Brought into the world on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 and filed under Uncategorized.