How Does Social Media Influence Buyers Decisions

Social Shopping : Click, Read, Share, Review & Buy

Are you planning to buy a service or product soon? Do you ……

- Like to take a second opinion from customers who have already used a specific product or service?
- Follow social media just to know about what’s hot and trending?

If you really do all these then keep reading the post

There are many who love to use social media to garner information and share their experiences with others. This has made ‘social shopping’ a common phenomenon a part of the agile marketing. Users are taking advantage of this medium to gain insight on a product or service before making any decision for usage (purchase). The journey of a user from ZMOT to SMOT has changed due to the unlimited potential of Social Media.

Fig. 1

Facebook, among all the social media sites boasts of 955 million active users and where 255 million photos are uploaded every week [Businessinsider].

Social media marketing is getting hotter with every passing day. It’s not only the users but the Brands are conscious of their Goodwill, Brand Value in these platforms. They too, like to share their products info online and encourage their customers to do so on their social networking profiles to enhance visibility of their products or services. Many of the Facebook users are responding to the brands’ marketing efforts on Facebook by interaction through ‘liking’ their page to get status updates or converse on the pros and cons about the product or service. For instance, Coca cola Facebook page has nearly 66 million likes and over 1 million people are actively talking about them [Facebook].

Fig. 2

The amalgamation of tablets and smartphones with social media has further enhanced the users’ online shopping experience. However, tablets are the most preferred device for online shopping, as 46% of the online shoppers prefer using their tablets for reading reviews on social networking sites.

Fig. 3

Figure 3 describes the way social media sites are being used by the tech-savvy customers of the world. Nearly two-thirds use social channels to read consumer feedback and find product information, and nearly one-half use such channels for professional networking [NMincite]:
• 66% read consumers reviews
• 54% share positive feedback
• 50% share negative feedback
• 60% find information on products and services
• 58% find promos and coupons
• 48% use social media for career networking
• 28% do so to find jobs

Many of the brands are endorsing their products with popular celebrities, who have huge fan following on the screen and social media as well. Many brands associate themselves with film festivals or sports tournaments to promote their products easily to a huge number of fans. Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter are the leading social networking sites where brands share pictures of their real life instances, such as, press conferences, live shows, concerts etc. (reference Fig. 4)

Fig. 4

Marketers create polls on LinkedIn to get real time results to know behind-the-scenes look at what people are saying. Company-branded groups are formed to discuss about the industry. Status update field is used to make company announcements, offer special deals, give tips and share links. For instance, in figure 5, the Walmart’s Linkedin page shows the number of followers and likes on the status they shared on their profile.

Fig. 5

Figure 6 shows how marketers use social networking sites for promoting their products. Creating pages on social media sites and posting messages on those pages is the most preferred way to reach audience.

Fig. 6

Users, too, interact with marketers on social media by liking or commenting on their promotions. Figure 7 shows how shoppers interact with retailers and make a final decision to buy products on various social media sites. Customers used retailers’ Facebook links to buy products. Retailer blogs and Twitter are the primary sources from where customers get information to buy these products. Customers also post comments on retailers’ Facebook, blog and Twitter accounts and blog (76%) are at the top where the most customers prefer to post their comments.

Fig. 7

Social media marketing is benefitting both the marketers and the consumers. It’s a two-way process. Marketers offer their products for free at times, but demand attention by asking the users to promote the products to as many people on social media sites as they can.  Social media users participate in contests, quizzes, giveaways initiated by the marketers to win the prizes. Products like; cosmetics, jewelry, clothes etc. are exhibited in a very glamorous way that users just can’t resist to buy.

Fig. 8 shows how Levi’s, a leading apparel brand, created their web-page to communicate with their audience.

Fig. 8

Social Shopping is gaining strength. Everything is being shared on these platforms. Prices are being fixed in the comment threads in many cases. People like the product, ask for price and contact the seller for further details.

Are you ready to dive in the sea of “Social Shopping” and experience a whole new approach of shopping in the tech world?

For more information on app development and marketing strategy send in your email to marketing@ymedialabs.com