It has been an exciting few weeks at Lithium. We were named a Leader by Forrester in the Social Media Management Solutions Wave and we also recently announced several new integrations across listening and paid ads.   And the momentum continues. At Lithium, we are focused on giving brands the power to deliver awesome digital experiences to customers at the right time, in the right moment. We continue to enhance the way brands manage millions of 1:1 conversations with their customers across the globe on the right channels.     We’re thrilled to announce that Lithium has been included in the new Platform Development Providers Directory for Messenger. As one of the first group of partners listed in the directory, brands have easier, preferred access to Lithium’s capabilities to create excellent digital experiences on Messenger.   The directory for Messenger was created for brands aiming to build differentiated experiences on the Messenger Platform. It serves as a resource for brands looking for specialized providers such as Lithium to expand their capabilities, enhance the Messenger experience and drive successful business results.   Private messaging is quickly becoming one of the preferred channels for consumers to engage with brands on digital. In fact, 1.2B people – 56% of customers – regularly use Messenger globally and it’s one of the top preferred messaging channels. These platforms are changing how brands engage with their customers, providing a way for them to have more interactive, efficient conversations and ultimately build stronger relationships. We’re honored that Lithium continues to be a preferred solution for leading brands.   To learn more about how brands are leveraging Facebook Messenger to transform their business, read our case study from Rogers.    ... View more

The news last week that Lithium Social Web has been selected into Twitter’s Certified Product’s Program is very exciting!  Twitter’s certification program identifies the best tools and services to help businesses thrive on the Twitter platform, which ultimately improves the experience for Twitter’s growing user base.  This is a milestone event for Lithium and something we take great pride in, especially as it underscores one one of Lithium’s key values to “build products we’re proud of”.   As part of our announcement, we also released a research study that we conducted with Millward Brown Digital that uncovers how consumers expect brands to respond to them on Twitter and the impact it can have on a brand’s reputation.      Some of the key finding include:   Social response expectations among Twitter users is high; 73% of users expect a response from brands to their Tweet Of those expecting a response, 53% of users expect it within the hour, 72% when it involves a complaint Almost 40% of users felt more negative towards a brand when their Tweets weren’t responded to in a timely manner Majority of users will escalate and/or vocalize their negativity to a brand if not responded to in a timely manner; 75% of users who “shame” a brand believe it will lead to better service   Brands, it’s time to wake up!  You can no longer afford to ignore consumers’ expectations for how you respond to them on Twitter. In fact, demands are only going to become even loftier as more and more consumers turn to Twitter as their preferred channel for communicating with brands.   There’s plenty of good news for brands that get it right, however.  Because timely social response can also produce positive effects, including increases in brand perception, favorability and purchase intent, many of our current customers are already seizing the opportunity and using Lithium Social Web to turn social response into a competitive advantage.     If your brand isn’t already using Lithium Social Web to harness Twitter’s power, I encourage you to take advantage of our complimentary social assessment to learn more about how Lithium Social Web can help.       We’re very proud of the value we’re creating for consumers, brands and Twitter’s ecosystem.   Tweet on!   Larry   PS: Check out some of what the media has to say about our news at http://www.lithium.com/news-events     Larry Nelson is currently VP, Business Development and Partnerships and is responsible for helping develop Lithium’s partner ecosystem.  Larry is passionate about connecting people to brands, products and services and has spent the past 18 years launching successful consumer content and e-commerce properties, developing strategic partnerships and scaling digital capabilities across organizations in a variety of leadership roles at HP, Yahoo and McCann Erickson.  Follow him on Twitter @larrynelson   ... View more