#ibm study

The Comprehensive Study by IBM: Illuminating the AI LandscapeA Vision Beyond Apprehension: Augmenting Roles with AIStrategic Reskilling and AI Integration: A Recipe for SuccessEvolving Skills: From Technical Proficiency to Interpersonal AcumenSeizing the Future: Leveraging AI for Unprecedented Growth The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have ignited both excitement and…

CEOs who are social will be the next new thing

Within just the next three to five years, social media is anticipated to rise from the least likely method for CEOs to connect with their audiences to the second highest method, just behind face-to-face interactions.

I was recently speaking to a sold out event for the Nashville AMA on the dramatic changes brought upon business development due to social media.

Being in Nashville gave me an…

  It appears many companies are doing this whole social media thing all wrong, according to a new study by IBM.

Fortunately, IBM this week launched a "Smarter Commerce" consulting practice that includes, among other things, a social media component. The serendipity of it all.

(Also see: IBM launches e-commerce practice)

The IBM study does draw a big conclusion that has the ring of truth, which is that some companies make false assumptions about what consumers want out of social media interactions with businesses.

From Dow Jones Newswire:

The study found that a majority of consumers say the top reasons they interact with companies via social sites are to receive discounts and make purchases, but companies rank those as the least likely reasons customers will follow them.

Nothing like understanding your customer!

Instead, businesses overestimate consumers' desire to interact with the companies, believing consumers hope to feel connected or be part of a community.

"The customers really just want to be our social media friends! They want to engage with us!" Talk about naive. The customer wants something tangible, you dopes, not to be pummeled on Facebook and Twitter by a marketing barrage thinly disguised as social media chit-chat.

Also, most consumers won't deal with companies via social media if they suspect dubious motives. The IBM study showed that more than 60 percent of respondents must "believe a company is communicating honestly before they will interact," Dow Jones reports.