7 Out of 10 Consumers Prefer a Business with a Social Media Presence

Seven out of 10 consumers prefer a business with a social media presence. That’s according to information provided by GoDaddy (click the image above to see the full graphic), through its service Get Found. Get Found provides small businesses with tools to update their information instantly across a wide variety of platforms online.

But why do consumers feel this way? Is it because the social media presence confirms there are real people behind the business? Or is it because they truly want to follow the business on social media?

Rene Reinsberg, General Manager and Vice President for GoDaddy’s Get Found and other SEO products explains:

“A social media presence has become an essential and expected component of a business’ digital presence. In some cases, consumers are bypassing search engines and other traditional search options to find businesses on social media. Having a social presence confirms the legitimacy of a business and also provides an essential channel for communication. Social media is so critical for most consumers that if you aren’t on social media, you don’t exist as a business.”

Here’s another thing to consider. Seventy-seven percent of consumers are unlikely to give a location-based business a second chance once they’ve discovered outdated or incorrect information about that business online.

Again, why is this? Certainly, in the old days, people were used to running across outdated information in the Yellow Pages. So why are consumers so unforgiving about outdated information online?

Reinsberg adds:

“Consumers are not necessarily more unforgiving about online information than they have been about offline information. However, the proliferation of Internet use and companies defined by their speed of service has increased consumer expectation towards immediate gratification. Consumers are now used to getting any information, at any time, immediately. Additionally, attention spans have waned as consumers increasingly multitask in different ways, which may reduce patience for inaccurate information.”

GoDaddy announced the launch of Get Found in January. The service enables small businesses to simultaneously update their information on platforms including Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Yelp.

The service was created by Locu, a company GoDaddy acquired in August of 2013. The San Francisco-based company pioneered online updating tools for more than 30,000 restaurants, spas, salons, accountants, photographers, home-remodeling companies and other small businesses.

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Source: Small Business Trends

7 Out of 10 Consumers Prefer a Business with a Social Media Presence