How Many Brands are Interacting with Twitter Followers?

New Study: How Brands Respond on Twitter

Are you getting a response on Twitter from your favorite business?

Do brands really listen to their audience on social media?

Social media is increasingly becoming a popular avenue for people to leave feedback and ask customer service questions. While some brands are quick to respond there are still many who are silent, especially on Twitter.

A new study by Brandwatch.com in the U.S. and U.K. of major retail brands reveals some interesting data.

Here is a breakdown of their research:

1. Nearly half of brands do not respond to a @mention generic tweet. Here is the graph results courtesy of Brandwatch.com:

2. General questions with an @mention garnered more of a response, but at a slower rate. Their research found that companies in the U.S. tend to reply quicker, and that the average response was 50 minutes, while in the U.K. the time frame was 63 minutes. Resolved issues took even longer with a resolution in the U.S. and U.K. in about two and half hours with the U.S. being slightly faster.

3. About half of the brands provided an answer without a link or replied with a question, with about one third favoriting tweets rather than replying. A little over 30 percent of responses included a helpful link, and under 15 percent used the Direct Message feature or gave out a telephone number.

Nordstrom and Best Buy came out at the top for brand response and communication on Twitter. Another great example is American Airlines and Applebees, who interact quickly with their followers and customers:

Both examples show a quick response that meet the needs of the customer.

The conclusion of Brandwatch.com’s study was that more brands need to come up in their social media interactions on Twitter. This is especially important in a competitive retail environment where mainstream advertising practices are far less effective than social media marketing.

How Many Brands are Interacting with Twitter Followers?