[Posted by Reineke Reitsma]

Companies are trying to get in touch and have a conversation with their customers through social networks, but customers' interaction with companies are mostly driven by promotions or personal gain. Data from our North American Technographics online survey shows that the majority of consumers reached out to companies to enter a sweepstake of to register for a promotion. . 

But consumers do show an interest to connect to brands and companies through social networks: one in ten online US consumers became a fan or befriended a brand on facebook or MySpace in the past three months.