Customers expect to be served by social media, and they expect that service to come quickly, according to research by Lithium Technologies.

Fifty-three percent of consumers who expect a brand to respond to their Tweet want that response in less than an hour. When those consumers are tweeting complaints, that figure skyrockets to a whopping 72 percent.

The upside to this is that brands that do make effective and timely use of their Twitter accounts to respond to consumers can reap some serious benefits:

• 34 percent are likely to buy more from that company
• 43 percent are likely to encourage friends and family to buy their products
• 38 percent are more receptive to their advertisements
• 42 percent are willing to praise or recommend the brand through social media

From www.mediabistro.com, found by @comms2point0