New Mitto research reveals increase in consumer messaging with brands via social media since pandemic; Majority of consumers have used social media to contact a brand’s customer support, reporting a positive experience

 Mitto, a leading provider of global omnichannel communications solutions, today revealed brand-consumer social media messaging is on the rise, according to survey research into the ways that U.S. consumers use social media apps to interact with brands. 70% have increased their overall social media use since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with 58% reporting their messaging with brands via social media has also increased.

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The survey found that 87% now use social media apps to message with brands and it’s driving their purchasing decisions, with 55% reporting a brand’s social media messaging influenced a purchase via the website, 39% in store and 42% via the social media app.

“There are so many communications channels available and brands are being stretched to adapt their messaging strategy to meet consumers where they’re at,” said Andrea Giacomini, CEO of Mitto. “With social media usage up since the beginning of the pandemic, it is no surprise that consumers are now turning to social media more to message with brands, and those brands that evolve their digital customer experiences to include social media messaging will reap the benefits of effective customer engagement.”

People are using social media as a way to get help and answers from brands over other communications channels. 77% have used social media to contact a brand’s customer support with 79% reporting a positive experience. Further, 58% mentioned they prefer that brands use social media to communicate versus other methods, such as email, call or text. Providing some insight into that preference, respondents noted they enjoy that social media messaging is convenient (72%), fast (61%) and personalized (50%).

The types of messaging consumers would like to see from brands via social media include promo codes (70%), sales (61%), customer support (54%) and order updates (52%).

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When it comes to social media app preference, 78% reported using Facebook regularly to message with brands, followed by Instagram (57%) and Twitter (45%). Looking at which social media apps consumers prefer for different verticals, Facebook remained the top app of choice, with:

• 68% for messaging retail/e-commerce,
• 55% for finance/banking,
• 61% for travel,
• 61% for food/delivery service and 58% for gaming.

The research also revealed opportunities for brands to continue to improve social media messaging experiences. These include greater personalization (43% agree) speeding up response times (42% agree). The survey also found certain industries – especially finance and banking – must clearly communicate how they will ensure social media messaging remains a secure channel of communication as this is currently holding almost half (45%) of Americans back from using social media messaging with finance/banking brands.

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