Sixty percent of Twitter users following a brand are likely to recommend the company to a friend, Chadwick Martin Bailey and Constant Contact suggested in a recent release.

New research from Chadwick Martin Bailey and Constant Contact reveals that consumers who follow a company on Twitter spend more money with the brand and recommend it to a friend than the average consumer, demonstrating the value of social media marketing.

According to a release from the companies, 60 percent of Twitter users following a brand are more likely to recommend it to a friend. The accessibility offered through Twitter helps these users develop a greater sense of connection with the brand. This often results in their advocacy of the company when speaking to friends or family.

Half of consumers are more likely to make a purchase with a company after they follow it on Twitter, Chadwick Martin Bailey and Constant Contact found.

The two primary reasons people end up following a brand are for new promotions and offers and for greater access to information from the company. However, people are quite selective in the brands they follow with 79 percent of users reporting they follow 10 or fewer brands. Once a user followers a brand, they rarely look elsewhere for the product or service they sought. Additionally, 75 percent of respondents said they have never unfollowed a brand.

As more people use Twitter, they are interacting with brands more frequently, according to the report, with one-third saying they have increased their engagement in the last year.

“For brands, simply broadcasting content and talking at consumers doesn’t fly anymore. Consumers want more than just good content; they want interactive content. And they don’t just want to hear from brands; they want to be heard and acknowledged by the real people behind the brands. More than ever, marketing is about building relationships, and Twitter is a great channel for this type of two-way interaction,” Mark Schmulen, general manager of social media for Constant Contact, said in the release.

The two companies collaborated on a similar study centered on Facebook last month. Brafton reported that 56 percent of Facebook users who become fans of brand Pages have recommended the companies they Like to a friend.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.