BRISBANE: Only 12% of the top 50 Australian brands are listening and responding to their customers' comments on Twitter, according to a social media study by advertising agency BCM.
BCM analysed nearly 8,000 relevant mentions for 81 brands or organisations on Twitter throughout two weeks in Q4 2009 to monitor how brands were responding to consumers’ negative and positive commentary.
The findings revealed only 54 of the top 81 brands had Twitter profiles and of these only six brands actively listened and engaged with customer comments, with the majority (72%) using Twitter as a one-way channel to publicise promotions and promote news updates.
Telstra was the most responsive company responding to 45% of negative and positive comments, but the brand also has one of the largest levels of commentary receiving more than 10 times as many negative comments as positive ones.
Flight Centre topped the unweighted brand response scores with an 80% response rate although the brand does not receive as much comments as other organisations.
Big Pond, Vodafone, Telstra, Australia Post and the Australian Taxation Office received the highest amount of negative commentary on Twitter.
Toyota, Target, Boost, Sony and Canon ranked highest in the study for positive consumer comments.
However, the survey was undertaken before Toyota’s global recalls which would impact differently on the brand’s social media commentary.
BCM partner Kevin Moreland said whether brands "like it or not, conversations about them are happening on a daily basis and brand or product mentions are becoming intertwined into social networking activities".
“Peer to peer influence is becoming increasingly important when it comes to brand and purchasing decisions.
“The prevalence and influence of social media means that marketers cannot assume that its good enough to simply define their brands and continually keep pushing messages out.”
The BCM 'Is Anyone Listening?' social media report monitored Australian brands as well as international brands with a significant Australian presence over two weeks in October 2009.
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