Mediaboss Marketing

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

LITHIUM NETWORK CONFERENCE Lithium Technologies, the leader in Social Customer Experience, today unveiled new research showing that while consumers and marketers both say that interacting through social media has strong benefits, there is still more engagement and interaction required by both groups.

Consumers are increasingly expecting, even demanding, that brands interact with them through social media, said Katy Keim, Lithium CMO. Its not enough to just show up on social channels. Smart brands are taking control of social customer engagement by figuring out how to tackle meaningful activities with their social customersthings like collecting feedback and new product ideas.

Consumers are influenced by social media and they expect a two-way dialog with brands across the social web, but rarely get it. A survey1 of consumer attitudes, conducted by Lithium in April and released during the Lithium Network Conference (LiNC) 2012, about social media reveals:

Marketers need to demonstrate social media marketing ROI to the C-suite, but arent able to. A separate survey2 of marketer attitudes around social media, conducted by Lithium and MarketingProfs in April, reveals:

While social media marketing ROI remains elusive for most, findings indicate marketers who combine two assets well are best able to realize the full potential of social media and demonstrate the most impressive ROI:

Theres a clear disconnect between the value of social media and marketers ability to demonstrate and act on that valuebut it doesnt have to be that way, said Keim. There is no excuse anymore, when you consider the simplicity and sophistication with which marketers can monitor social customer experiences, engage and build communities around the brand, and clearly measure business value using tools like Lithium provides.

While large portions of marketers are not yet truly measuring and understanding the impact of their social media efforts, a significant vanguard (35%) do say that social media marketing helps to meet primary business objectives better than most other channels.

About Lithium Technologies

Lithium helps companies unlock the passion of their customers. Lithium software powers amazing Social Customer Experiences for more than 300 iconic brands including AT&T, BT, Best Buy, Sephora, Skype and Telstra. Lithium helps companies grow brand advocacy, drive sales, reduce costs and accelerate innovation to create a brand nation that redefines the customer experience. For more information, visit http://www.lithium.com, or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and our own brand nation the Lithosphere. Lithium is privately held with corporate headquarters in Emeryville, Calif. and offices in Europe and Asia.

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Consumers Expect More Engagement from Brands Through Social Media, Lithium Social Survey Finds