Less than a year ago, according to a study commissioned by Google and conducted by eMarketer in August of 2010, more than half of Facebook users had not taken the time to friend or follow a single brand. Now, though, most people who are on Facebook -- and that's more than 750 million of us -- have friended between two and five brands. Why? What makes them decide to follow a brand, and what do they get out of it?

That's the question that inspired Column Five Media and GetSatisfaction to produce the infographic embedded below. "Without a doubt, a positive online brand experience creates loyal customers," according to the infographic's introduction. "As several studies have discovered, the majority of consumers who engage with a brand in the digital space -- whether by participating in a contest or by 'liking' a brand on Facebook -- tend to not only purchase the products, but also make recommendations to their friends and family."

Infographics are always a bit of a hodgepodge of statistics culled from a variety of sources. Here, we sort through the clutter and pull out some of our favorite facts and figures:

• What are the top reasons people follow brands? On Facebook, most followers are drawn to special offers and deals (36.9 percent) or are already customers of a brand (32.9 percent). On Twitter, the same things draw people to a brand, with a larger emphasis on special offers and deals (43.5 percent).
• How many brands do they follow on Facebook? The majority (53.47 percent) of respondents to the survey used to build this infographic followed between two and five brands, followed by between five and ten brands (21.2 percent of respondents).
• The top five most popular brands on Facebook and Twitter as of mid-May 2011 are Facebook, YouTube, Coca-Cola, Disney and Starbucks.
• More than 97 percent of respondents said yes, an online experience had influenced whether or not they bought a product or service from a brand.
  

Check out more Infographics on the Technology Channel.