Earlier this month, Sprout Social released their annual report–The Sprout Social Index Edition XIX: Breakthrough. In its 19th installment, they surveyed over 1,800 consumers and 900 marketers across the US and UK to find out what both parties are prioritizing in today’s shifting social media landscape, discover where there’s synergy and where there are gaps, and figure out how to better align the two. The release of this annual report serendipitously happens right around Fall Preview and all of the promise of a new Broadway season. This makes it the perfect time to share a few highlights that we’re keeping top-of-mind as we we optimize our social strategies through the end of the year and plan for what’s to come in the spring.
- Customer Care is Critical: Consumers place equal value on brands that prioritize customer support and brands that respond quickly to customer needs. 69% of consumers expect same day responses to customer service inquiries, with an addition 19% expecting a response within 48 hours. Our teams need to be equipped to care for our audiences throughout their show experience.
- Audience Engagement Matters: 51% of consumers say the most memorable brands respond to customers and audiences on social but the majority of social media professionals’ time and energy is spent on content creation. Now is the time to reflect on how we better balance those efforts to effectively align resources and impact.?
- Brand Activism Requires Quality Over Quantity: ?Brand activism is in important part of any marketing mix, but it has to be tied to your brand identity or else it’s not going to connect. Only 25% of consumers believe brands must speak out on causes and news that align with their values to be memorable, which is a big decrease from expectations in previous years.?
- Not All Metrics Are Created Equal:? Recognition of social media’s impact has gone up over the last few years but not every business, or every metric, is the same. 60% of marketers are focused on quantifying social media’s impact, not just on potential revenue but throughout the consumer journey.?
Want to know more? Take a deeper dive into the US and UK data featured in The Sprout Social Index here.
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