Younger Generations Don't Want Your Business

Mike Phillips — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:00:00 GMT

According to a new report from Forrester Research, just six percent of youths 12-17 years-old want to be "friends" with brands on Facebook. The concern for brands is that half of this demographic uses the social networking website. Even worse, almost half of those surveyed don't think brands should have a presence in social media at all.

The good news, is that the figure doubles in those 18-24 years old - 12 percent favor being friends with brands. That's still quite low but it's a good sign that as young people's purchasing power increases, so does their affinity to communicate with brands. In fact, as we reported recently, the top reason people choose to interact with brands on the social Web is to receive discounts.

The silver lining with the 12-17 demographic is that, while not wanting to "friend" brands, 74 percent of them use social networks to talk about products and make recommendations. So, it's important to listen -- and respond when appropriate.

Forrester surveyed 4,681 Americans aged 12-17 on the Web in September of last year.

Want Social Media Fans? Offer Coupons.

Mike Phillips — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:30:00 GMT

A newly released survey from AdAge and Ipsos Observer finds that consumers are very willing to receive communications from brands in a digital media environment – as long as that communication is a discount or coupon. Of those surveyed*, 65 percent said they want coupons and discounts from brands in these environments. Following that was "Better customer service", at 42 percent.

When asked why they "friending" a brand online, the top reason consumers gave was "I hoped to get discounts." Another popular reason was because it was suggested by a friend online.

Take this as a clear signal that consumers expect something in return for their "friendship." And that "something" is not an announcement from the CEO or news about company profits. This survey shows it's about cold, hard cash.

The survey also found that consumers prefer Facebook as the top means for brands to communicate with consumers, by a factor of 41 percent. The next highest preferred method was Twitter, at 18 percent. But the most preferred way consumers want to communicate with brands? None at all, with 48 percent. Still, when added together (including MySpace, LinkedIn, Foursquare and 'Other') it appears that consumers are, for the most part, willing to hear from businesses during their regular digital media consumption.

*1,000 consumers were surveyed about their "digital-media habits."

'Net Features : friends

Younger Generations Don't Want Your Business

Want Social Media Fans? Offer Coupons.