Study: Social-media users follow just 5 brands

The popularity of social media is surging — but that doesn’t mean it’s a boom time for brands. A new study from communications agency Cone found that social media users “like,” “follow,” or “subscribe” to an average of 4.6 companies. The good news is that 86 percent of respondents said they are open to engaging with brands on social media, up from 78 percent in 2009. So, how are you supposed to win the affinity of consumers? Easy. Give them free stuff. That&#8217…