Rapid Twitter feedback increases willingness to buy

Twitter got off to a flying start on the stock market. A study shows that an engaged approach to the social network has a positive effect on potential customers.Lithium Technologies, which specializes in solutions for social CRM and social customer experience, has presented the results of a survey that show that customers definitely appreciate it when companies get involved on Twitter and thus meet their growing expectations and demands. However, those who fail to react promptly via Twitter will inevitably be punished.Majority expects response within one hourCustomers have high expectations of response frequency: 53 percent of them expect a fire to respond to their tweet within an hour. This was the finding of the survey commissioned by Lithium and conducted by Millward Brown survey conducted. This figure even shoots up to a value of 72 percent when it comes to complaints.Customers express displeasureWhen companies ignore these lofty expectations for response frequency, 38 percent of respondents develop negative feelings toward the brand and a full 60 percent are willing to take some form of unpleasant action to express their displeasure.Public dismantling threatensThe effects of sluggish responses via Twitter are quite serious and have far-reaching and business-critical consequences: They range from waning purchase interest to public dismantling of the brand on social media. In fact, 74 percent of consumers who use social channels to criticize or even expose a brand are convinced that this action will be noticed and lead to better service.Exchange between brand and Twitter userSo brands need to respond! More than half of Twitter users actively engage with brands via social networking platforms, and nearly half of them prefer Twitter to other forms of communication when they have questions about companies' products or services.More buyers thanks to fast responseBut there are also positives: those companies that recognize and make the most of the opportunities that lie in responding to customer expectations can achieve compelling results: The study of more than 500 active Twitter users found that in the event of a quick response on company-owned Twitter channels- 34 percent are very likely to shop at that company again;- 43 percent are likely to encourage friends and family to shop there as well;- 38 percent are more receptive to company ads;- 42 percent are willing to talk positively about or even recommend the brand on social media."High time to wake up the company""It's high time companies woke up and realized that responding via social channels is the new real-time marketing," said Rob Tarkoff, Lithium president and chief executive officer. "Brands need to meet their customers in the place of their choice - Twitter - and responding slowly or out of focus here is simply no longer an option. If 57 percent of consumers stop talking to or about a company after a negative experience with a brand, those 140 characters may be the most expensive the company has ever ignored."