Ignoring social media could be lethal for brands

Ignoring social media comments could be as detrimental to businesses in 2014 as not replying to emails or phone calls is today, itpro.co.uk reports.

Tech researcher Gartner has found that if social media continues along its current trajectory, it will be wholly different to what it is today - with many more users signing up for accounts than ever before. This widespread adoption would also mean that more users - both young and old - would begin to use their networks in order to converse with businesses.

As this happens, social media would become more of a viable tool for these communications and would be more seriously considered than they currently are. The result would mean social networks become a more central part of business-to-consumer communication and ignoring messages would be seen to be just as bad as doing the same to emails or telephone calls.

In order to get into social media marketing early, before the more widespread adoption, Gartner advised businesses to make a start straight away. This would not only familiarise them with the world of social media, but also build up their presence on these networks over the coming year.

Vice president of Gartner, Carol Rozwell, told domain-b.com about the findings: "For organisations that use social media to promote their products, responding to enquiries via social media channels will be the new minimum level of response expected.

"The dissatisfaction stemming from failure to respond via social channels can lead to up to a 15 per cent increase in churn rate for existing customers."