Today I read this story about some newish research regarding what consumers are looking for when they hook up with consumer brands via social media platforms. The gist:

Among those who have friended a brand on MySpace or Facebook, a third did it mainly to gain access to exclusive deals and discounts, according to a new report from Razorfish. The number was even higher — 44 percent — for people who follow a brand on Twitter.

While it may come as no surprise that consumers view brand interactions as a potential source of insider deals, the findings should supply a dose of reality to marketers getting caught up in the hype of conversational marketing, said Garrick Schmitt, group VP of experience planning at Razorfish and author of the agency’s FEED report.

“There’s all this talk about social media and conversation, but you forget that what’s at the heart of it for most consumers is actual products and the act of buying products,” he said. “I don’t think that it takes away from the power of the medium, but I do think that you can’t forget what’s primary in the consumers’ mind in terms of the conversation.”

The study cited Dell, Amazon and Starbucks as brands that have won large followings online by using social media platforms to present regular deals and discount. Starbucks, for example, has amassed nearly 5 million fans on Facebook, in part by frequently posting alerts about free products and discounts.

I agree to a certain extent, but this really depends on the brand, the product and the audience demographics.

For example, people who interact with, say, Apple online do so not only because they hope to be first to hear about iPod discounts and get 20% off on Macbooks during the holidays, but also because that is a brand with which people feel an affinity and relationship beyond the actual products the company sells.  Apple’s relationship with its customers – or at least a large segment of them (the true believer/evangelists/super enthusiastic converts) -  is an identity thing.  They want to be part of the Apple fan group on Facebook so that people who come to their own Facebook pages see that they are Apple people. They want to talk about Apple and its products with other Apple fans, so they participate in the MacWorld message boards.  And even many people who have never heard of the MacRumors Twitter feed (nearly 82,000 followers) are eager to brand themselves to others as Apple fans via things like Apple bumper stickers on their cars.  It’s a statement.

It’s kind of like driving one of the newer VW bugs – which certainly  may be great cars – but one of the main reasons people buy the brand and the model is because the car makes an identity statement. And VW drivers’ online engagment with the VW brand itself is more about identity and relationship (both with the company and with other VW enthusiasts) than it is about a sales rebate at the local VW dealer.

These brand engagements have nothing to do with coupons and discounts. It’s a relationship thing, but it still supports and grows overall sales for these consumer brands.

Another example: people who love Ikea love it because it has great prices, yes, but also because it has a particular design aesthetic and social sensibility that’s meaningful to them. So if Ikea had an official Flickr feed (like the unofficial, fan-generated Flickr Ikea feed, with more than 4,000 members and 12,000 photos) people would join because they would hope to get great design ideas from the photos Ikea would post. They would share their own Ikea shopping or decorating content and photos with other Ikea fans. And sure, they would be very happy if they sometimes got a 20% coupon for new wooden shelves, or first crack at an online sale, but that would be an extra, rather than primary. They would still engage with Ikea via various social media platforms even if Ikea never, ever pushed out discounts or coupons.

But nobody (okay, maybe a few highly unusual people) considers the fact that they sometimes take their family out to eat at TGI Friday’s as part of their online or offline identity. They do not have a sense of authentic relationship with TGI Friday’s beyond inexpensive, accessible dining. They do not plaster TGIF bumper stickers on their cars just to let people know that they eat at TGI Friday’s. They are not interested in debating the merits of the barbeque wings over the dry rub wings with others in a thoughtful way on some kind of super active TGI Friday’s fan message boards. But fans on the TGI Friday’s Facebook page definitely appreciate the “buy one get one free” specials that they may get if they give TGIF their email or text address, or if they join the Facebook group.

Many, perhaps even most brands have the opportunity to grow sales and audience with both kinds of social media connections, but I fear that many companies and organizations will read that research piece I referenced at the beginning of this post and think that they have just been given permission by marketing experts to do nothing with Twitter but spam people with sales promotions.

If you would like to talk with me about digital & social media strategies for your own business or brand, shoot me an email at kgranju@ackermannpr.com