Six out of ten consumers are more likely to engage with social media posts that they find entertaining, according to a survey from Sprout Social, which provides social media marketing and analytics solutions for business.

The company concludes that that brands that entertain people on social media are the most likely to get the attention of Irish consumers, says the report, From conversation to connection: how brands can turn Likes into action.

While likes and follows are the most common forms of engagement, four out of ten consumers said they would be willing to engage in more substantial ways, such as leaving a review for products or services, while a third would ask a question or leave a comment.

General manager Gerard Murnaghan said: “Our research finds that when consumers feel connected to brands, 84% will visit a business’s website or mobile app and 71% will spend more with that brand. This underscores the importance of developing high-quality, relevant brand content that appeals to the audience and engages them in a meaningful way.  Marketers that achieve this will cultivate consumers’ loyalty and convert them into paying customers.”

Paddy Power head of social and digital Micheal Nagle added: “Our customers really feel like they’re part of the brand when they can engage us in a communal setting. We have a feature on Instagram and Snapchat every week called ‘Monday Moan’ where customers love to tell us about what a terrible Monday they are having and we put it up in our story. People get so excited just to be on our story.”

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The Sprout Social report goes on to point out that social media can be quite a challenge for brands. Nearly two-thirds of consumers would unfollow a brand on social because of poor customer service, and half ould do the same if they felt they were being ignored. 

“This is a stark reminder to companies about the importance of social listening and having clear guidelines in place around how to respond to customer concerns,” said Murnaghan (pictured). "On social media your customer is with you 24/7 and that means brands need to properly resource their online engagement and monitoring. It takes a long time to build a strong connection with consumers on social, but sometimes only one misstep to lose their trust. 

“The more in touch brands are with their consumers’ thoughts and feelings the better they can address issues proactively and avoid larger fallouts. Tools such as sentiment analysis and social media listening are great for this and enable brands to more efficiently and effectively manage the brand-consumer relationship.”

The full report is available here.