Razorfish surveyed
1,000 U.S. consumers to cull information about the way people interact with digital branding efforts. Read the full survey here and Razorfish’s analysis here.
I found a few of these findings of particular interest to
marketers. The bottom line is that digital branding, specifically through
social media, is very effective. But you need to entice users with freebies to
get them to participate. Here are the lessons to be learned, sans-fluffery.
Digital sweepstakes are no joke… you should use them (#21). Digital sweepstakes lead to brand awareness and the coveted WOM (word of mouth) (#21).
Most people don’t spend time producing content (like a video or essay) for a contest (#23). But when they do, the results are a WOM goldmine (#24).
Most people don’t follow brands on Twitter (#25). But when they do, they recommend the brand to all their buddies (#26). Why do people follow brands on Twitter? Because of the deals and offers (#27).
A healthy group of people will friend a brand on Facebook or MySpace (#28). And when they do, good things happen (#29). Why do people friend a brand? Because of the deals (#30)! Do you sense a theme?
Digital branding is effective (#32, #17, and #18), so use it. And don’t forget to use sweepstakes, giveaways, deals, offers, or freebies in general.