Brand dilemma: UK consumers don't like branded content on social media

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Aug 30, 2022

More than half of UK consumers dislike brand content on social media, a report claimed on Tuesday. Customer experience specialist Fresh Relevance has conducted research into the cross-channel behaviour and attitudes of online shoppers in the UK. And it said the findings “suggest that brands should think twice before pushing promotional content on social media channels”.

More than 50% of the 2,000 respondents polled said they don’t want to hear from brands on TikTok (58%), Twitter (56%), WhatsApp (53%), Facebook (53%), Instagram (53%) and YouTube (53%).  

Their preferred channels to receive promotional messages are email (the highest ranked at 35%), followed by a retailer’s website (32%), physical store (29%), app (27%) and Google (20%). 

Fresh Relevance CEO Mike Austin said: “Social media can be a very powerful channel to increase brand awareness and engage with your customer base. But our research suggests that retailers need to be smart in how they use it. While respondents told us that they’re not interested in promotional content, they want to be able to use social media to reach out to brands as a communication channel.

“Consumers prefer to receive promotional messages on channels that are owned by the retailer, such as email, website, store and app. This is good news for businesses who might have to cut back on paid media spend at the moment.” 

The company added that consumers using two or more channels prior to making a purchase on average (rising to three channels for online shoppers aged 16-34) highlights the need for brands to improve the cross-channel customer experience.

It cited as an example the fact that “one in four consumers are more likely to shop with a retailer when they can view the contents of their online shopping cart across multiple channels”.

Meanwhile, 22% of respondents said they’re more likely to shop with a retailer that shows them tailored content, such as product recommendations, based on what they’ve browsed and bought previously across multiple channels. 

Bridging the physical and online gap is also very important, with 29% of those surveyed more likely to shop with a retailer that shows them in-store availability at their nearest store for products they’re browsing online.