It goes without saying that social media networks have revolutionised our personal lives. Their emergence has facilitated the ease of interpersonal connection more than ever. Both the speed with which social media has grown and their ease of use for consumers, means that increasingly these platforms are being used to facilitate the connection between brand and consumer, equally revolutionising the way we shop.
Why have consumers fallen out of love with traditional advertising?
There has been a notable decline in the effectiveness of traditional advertising. Consumers are trusting it less and less and are therefore paying less attention to this type of advertising. In fact, according to a study from marketing firm Lithium Technologies, one third of Americans said they do not trust advertising to give them information about a product. What traditional advertising lacks, authenticity and validation from the peers of consumers, social media shopping has plentiful.
Social media adverts are integrated into users’ news feeds, sandwiched in between photos of their friends, and are often personalised based on previous searches due to the employment of cookies, making the adverts seem more personal and relevant. Furthermore, there are online reviews on many social media pages of brands, giving brands word of mouth validation. In fact 70% of customers stated that they use social media to read authentic customer reviews before choosing a particular brand and making a purchase decision.
Social media is becoming a new database for consumer products
Brands have been quick to respond to the growth in the use of social media in our daily lives. Thus they are increasingly investing their marketing budgets into placing ads on the platforms which, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people will spend 6 years and 8 months during the course of their lifetime. The subsequent elevated visibility of brands on social media means that increasingly consumers are using these platforms as vehicles through which to research products. In fact, 60% of people discover products on Instagram and 78% of Americans use Facebook to find new products. Equally, according to Salesforce, 54% of millennials use social channels to research products before they buy.
Social media is increasingly generating purchases
This new medium for advertising has been proven to successfully convert into sales. According to a Dive report, 72% of Instagrammers say that they have made purchases after seeing something on the platform. Likewise, the addictive nature of social media facilitates the creation of excitement surrounding the purchase of a product. For example, ephemeral content such as stories on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat creates this anticipation and ‘FOMO’ among consumers. For example, in order to promote their first-ever three-day online sale, J&Co Jewellery ran Instagram Stories ads that resulted in 58% of total sales.
As e-commerce is an exciting and ever-changing field, at Click2Buy we follow consumer trends closely. So, we respond in order to always facilitate the ease of purchase for the consumer. Interested in ways of increasing sales for your brand through social media networks ? Why not get in touch : click here to contact us !
Sources
WSJ
Addthis
Broadbandsearch
Sfdstatic
Retaildive
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