Companies are not making the most of their social media presence to interact with customers, according to Mohammed Parker, senior manager in business intelligence and technologies at Wesgro.
Speaking at the Customer Experience Management (CEM) conference in Cape Town yesterday, Parker said: “I’m a technologist by heart and a social media evangelist.”
He said he finds it interesting to see how organisations are tapping into social media.
“Gone are the days of traditional above the line, below the line marketing and meeting with consumers face to face,” said Parker.
With regards to organisations interacting with consumers online, Parker said: “With it comes a huge sense of responsibility. I think engaging the social media space, it’s about use, if you’re going to engage in that space, make sure you’ve got a use for it.
“What’s most alarming to me is that we have no stature towards the online marketing and social media space. What I am finding with organisations within southern Africa is… they set up a Facebook page, but they don’t actively manage… how they interact with the consumers online.”
Parker added it is a misconception that generation Y, or the newer generation, is the most active on Facebook and statistically their age group dominates the social site. He said the most active and frequent users are between the ages of 40 and 50, “believe it or not”.
He said the fact that businesses in southern Africa do not actively manage their interactions with consumers on Facebook is a big challenge because establishing an online presence is one thing and managing the content and interactions is another.
