Brands Rushing To Social Partly Out of Fear: Study

http://promomagazine.com/news/brand-rushing-fear-0917/
Retailers and brands that sell online are stampeding into social media, a new survey finds—some for fear of looking less modern than their competitors, and others out of concern that they may be getting bad-mouthed without their knowledge.

According to the survey, fielded by multichannel retail consultant The E-tailing Group and consumer review platform PowerReviews, a surprising number of social media tools have achieved wide adoption by brands and retailers in the relatively short time they’ve been available. Eighty-six percent of the brands and merchants who responded to the “Community and Social media Study” poll said they now use a Facebook fan page.

Fifty-five percent each reported using customer reviews on their Web sites and writing or working with blogs, while 50% of those questioned said they have uploaded video content in the hope of sending it viral.