Are you monitoring your brand buzz?

And if not, why not?

Social media has given your customers a place to voice their opinions, concerns, frustrations and praise about your brand, products, and services. The most tech-savvy are using social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, news websites, blogs, product review websites, and other sites where there is social interaction to publicize their thoughts and feelings with the world. This means companies like yours now have an unparalleled opportunity for engaging and connecting directly with these consumers in real-time.

How powerful are social networks?

• 53% of people on Twitter recommend companies and/or products in their Tweets, with 48% of them delivering on their intention to buy the product. (ROI Research for Performance, June 2010)
• 90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust opinions of unknown users. (Econsultancy, July 2009)
• In a study conducted by social networking site myYearbook, 81% of respondents said they’d received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site; 74% of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision. (Click Z, January 2010)
• Users put great trust in their social networks. One-half of Beresford respondents said they considered information shared on their networks when making a decision—and the proportion was higher among users ages 18 to 24, at 65%. (eMarketer, October 2009)
• Brands with the highest “social media activity” (including reviews) increased revenues by as much as 18%. (Media Post News, July 2009)

And social media platforms are only getting more powerful, which means not only is it time to monitor your brand buzz, it’s time to engage your followers and customers in more ways than just one. Marketing is multi-channel. You can see all these data and more at Social Commerce Statistics — Great Stats from Bazaarvoice, December 2010.