Messages That Are too Frequent, Repetitive or Marketing-Related Lead to Social Break-ups
ExactTarget and CoTweet set out to analyze why consumers break up with brands via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter, and found clear reasons for these break-ups.
“Like any interpersonal relationship, the consumer-brand relationship has a distinct and fascinating life cycle,” according to the “The Social Break-Up Report #8.” There’s a spark that initially connects the consumer to a brand via a subscription, fan or follow, but over time consumers observe how committed these companies are.
“But marketers must realize that the definitions of “engaging” and “appropriate” vary by channel. Communication practices that convey warmth and respect for the consumer through one channel can just as easily convey indifference—or desperation—through another.”
The report started by examining e-mail marketing. According to the report, 95 percent of U.S. online consumers use e-mail, and 93 percent of U.S. online consumers are subscribers (they receive at least one permission-based e-mail a day).
However, when subscribers are no longer interested in a company’s permission-based e-mail messages, 67 percent click on the “unsubscribe” link, 17 percent delete the e-mails when they arrive, 8 percent click on the “spam” or “junk” button, 6 percent don’t do anything and simply ignore the e-mails, and 2 percent set up a filter for these e-mails.
Fifty-four percent of people who unsubscribe from permission-based e-mails say the e-mails came too frequently, while 49 percent said the content become repetitive or boring over time. Forty-seven percent said they receive too many e-mails and needed to get off some companies’ lists.
The report then moved on to Facebook. According to the report, 73 percent of U.S. online consumers have created a profile on Facebook, 65 percent of U.S. online consumers are currently active on Facebook and 42 percent of U.S. online consumers are fans (they use Facebook and have “liked” at least one company).
When fans no longer want to see posts from a company on Facebook, 43 percent of them go to the company’s fan page and “unlike” them, 38 percent click the “X” in their news feeds to remove them from their walls and 19 percent simply ignore their posts.
For Facebook users who “unlike” brands, 44 percent said they’ve done so because a company posted too frequently, while 43 percent said their wall was become too crowded with marketing posts and they needed to get rid of some of them. Thirty-eight percent said the content became repetitive or boring over time.
Lastly, the report examined Twitter. According to the report, 17 percent of U.S. online consumers have created a Twitter account, 9 percent of U.S. online consumers are currently active on Twitter and 5 percent of U.S. online consumers are followers (they use Twitter and have followed at least one company).
For users who have stopped following brands on Twitter, 52 percent said the content became repetitive or boring over time, 41 percent said their tweet stream became too crowded with marketing posts and they decided to get rid of some of them, and 39 percent said the company posted too often.
The report notes that 47 percent of consumers who have created a Twitter account are no longer active on the social networking service. Fifty-two percent said they found Twitter to be pointless, 38 percent said it got boring and 23 percent said they thought Twitter was too chaotic.
The report concludes by warning marketers to avoid these four classic mistakes: failing to engage, being too self-promotional, sending an unclear message and breaching social etiquette.
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