Social Sites Will Increasingly Boost Consumer Loyalty, Survey Predicts

How is social media going to change next year? Will it be as important as it is today? Or will it be replaced by another channel of interaction? A new survey from consulting firm The Logic Group has tried to find the answers to these questions and here is what it established. Social media is set to play an increasingly important role in boosting customer loyalty, thanks to increased communication with users, the survey shows. Advancing technology provides various opportunities for loyalty programmes, as customers are looking for incentives to remain loyal. Brands that prove to be creative and responsive to consumer demand are likely to benefit from social media campaigns, researchers say, quoted by the Retail Times website.

Facebook will most likely remain the biggest player in terms of user base and traffic, while Twitter is expected to make the largest step forward, according to the poll. Figures show that more than one in five consumers have visited the page of a brand they are loyal to on Facebook over the past six months, while only 8% of consumers interacted with brands on Twitter.

However, predictions for the coming year show that the number of consumers following a company they are loyal to on Twitter will double and will outnumber the present UK Twitter users count.

Overall, 9% of UK consumers have been offered a loyalty reward via a social networking platform in the past six months.

Other findings from the research show that over the next year a quarter of Britons have plans to access online information via mobile phones while in store, including product reviews on social sites.