“But marketers are still struggling to find the most effective way to cozy up to a consumer via social media”
I, personally, can relate to the statement above. Positioning myself as a marketer, I think I would find it pretty difficult to get people to “like” my facebook page, for instance. As the article elaborated, people, including me, do not usually “befriend” with brands online. 55% to 63% respondents in the study refused to “befriend” with them since these people do not find it beneficial for them and they only use social media to resolve issues (see my previous blog post). I usually follow, for example, a band/musician on facebook to see the schedule of their concerts and new songs/albums.
In my opinion, people who like to shop would follow their favorite brands to see promotions/ads. Further, I think the brands that would be followed by people are companies like apparel companies, for their products are changing constantly (short life cycle); and some people would like to keep up with the latest trend.
Other people simply “like or follow” brands on social media just for the sake of supporting their brands or because they have ever been a part of them before (they are not really commenting/looking at their posts). For instance, I liked “The International Baccalaureate” facebook page simply because I was in this program in high school and I don’t follow their news anymore.
Therefore, I think some of the ways that marketers can do to increase followers include, posting useful wall posts (quality aspect) consistently, increasing engagement, rewarding loyal customers, and integrating facebook page to the company’s website.