Do Consumers Want Brands To Slide Into Their DMs?

Social media marketing faces a consumer-brand disconnect. Scott Morris, CMO at Sprout Social, shares research revealing the gap between marketer assumptions and actual consumer preferences on social platforms. His data shows consumers expect personalized responses in DMs when they initiate contact, but resist unprompted brand messages, highlighting how timely, relevant engagement builds loyalty while intrusive approaches damage relationships. Show Notes Connect With:Scott Morris: Website // LinkedInThe MarTech Podcast: Email // LinkedIn // TwitterBenjamin Shapiro: Website // LinkedIn // TwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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  The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast? I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iHereEverything.com.

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  From advertising to software as a service to data, across all of our programs and clients, we've seen a 55% to 65% open rate.

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  Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs better than TV advertising.

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  Typical life span of an article is about 24 to 36 hours.

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  If we're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action, then it's just a matter of timing.

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  Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world-class marketers that use technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's the host of the Martech Podcast, Benjamin Shapiro.

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  I'm Benjamin Shapiro, and joining me to discuss the difference between what marketers think and what consumers actually want from social media is Scott Morris. Scott is the Chief Marketing Officer at Sprouts Social, which is a social media management and analytics platform. And his team recently surveyed a group of customers, social practitioners and marketing leaders to uncover how consumer relationships are changing and how that's different than what social media platforms want. And today, we're going to discuss those findings and how marketers can break through the noise. Scott, that said, I want to move on to our lightning round where I'm going to ask you some quick hit questions about social media trends and consumer behavior. Are you ready? I think so. All right, here we go.

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  Buy or sell? Are you buying or selling that consumers want brands to slide into their DMs? Well, I think maybe I would say I'm buying it, but maybe not when it comes to unprompted DMs. Again, looking back at the research, it showed that the most memorable thing a brand can do on social is to respond to customers. You know, we use your trigger example. They expect really fast personalized responses and care. They'll go to a competitor. You don't. So I do think that personalized responses can build brand loyalty and trust, but I don't think people necessarily want you to slide into their DMs unprompted, but I think that is where they want to have conversations with you, especially when they're initiating the conversation.

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  There's a dating metaphor here. You gotta play it cool at first. Yeah, that's true. You gotta say hello, start a conversation, see what their interests are. And then eventually, over time, you can find a way to move the conversation in the direction you want to be, unless it is a direct request for action. And then you have to be more upfront, but be responsive and jump on the opportunity when it unearths itself. And I'll stop with the dating metaphor right there. It's a good analogy. All right. And that wraps up this episode of the Martech Podcast. Thanks to Scott Morris from Sprout Social for joining us. If you'd like to get in touch with Scott, you could find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes, or you could read Sprout Social's research on consumer and marketing

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  behavior by visiting their website, sproutsocial.com. And if you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or follow us on YouTube. All right, that's it for today. But until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy.

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  Thanks for listening to the Martech Podcast and I Hear Everything production. Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit ihereverything.com.