Social Media Is Changing The Way We Market And Shop

Virtually everyone has done some shopping online at some point before, but now it seems that online shopping is spilling over and social media has a big part to play in this. With sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest recent polls show that peer recommendations on these sites are the forces that really drive people to purchase products online.

Facebook To Replace Google Searches?

According to a study of more than 1400 male and female shoppers, 65% of individuals utilise social media in order to find that perfect gift. More than this is the fact that traditional means of advertising are losing their effect. Though reviews found on trusted sites such as Amazon still play a big role in what we choose to buy, consumers are no longer taken in by traditional forms of advertising as there are no real legitimate reasons to place your trust in them. Some forms of advertising have in some cases been rendered useless as internet consumers  develop a keen eye on what and what not to trust. A good example is known as ‘banner-blindness’ in which eye-tracking studies have highlighted that web users mostly ignore key areas of the page that are more likely to contain adverts.

It seems that the online marketing of millions of companies worldwide are not as effective as they could be because they have failed to adapt to changes in the way people search for the products they want. The study, which was conducted by Crowdtap was made into an infographic that showed that a whopping 92% of consumers ‘trusted earned media over all other forms of advertising’. Of these people 67% had also bought a gift that they found via social networking sites.

It comes down to the common question you find when out on a shopping trip “Do I look good in this?”. The advent of sites like Twitter and Facebook means that it has become much easier for consumers to gauge feedback from friends on their purchases – something which is integral to the entire shopping experience.

How Online Businesses Should Adapt To Facebook

On the business front this all has far reaching implications for the way companies choose to market their products and services. Many business owners are quickly catching on however and developing all kinds of pages whether it be on Facebook, or company run blogs that allow users to share pictures and articles with friends and family. Moreover in another study of over 6,500 consumers 73% stated that Facebook had played a big part in convincing them to visit a store for a shopping trip. So, not only does internet marketing have a big part to play with regards to online purchases, it also plays a massive role in where users choose to physically go for their shopping needs. New research from eBay states that the value for social media in retail will more than double from £1.5 billion to £3.3 billion in the next two years alone.

This post is by Kev Massey from SixtyMarketing. I have been in the Online Marketing industry since 2002 and love helping new and small business grow on the web.