Social media initially started as a platform to share photos or simply connect with family & friends.
But with emerging technology, it has eventually grown into a much more impactful platform for business. Studies have shown that almost 74% of consumers rely on social media for their purchasing decisions.
A HubSpot report shows 71% of consumers are more likely to make purchases based on social media referrals.
Now, how do social media influence us at this level?
Literally, businesses are earning in millions through social media advertising. Molz, a Shopify based website and generated $2.2 million in sales using only social media to generate traffic.
Now, before diving into more details here are three main social media platforms that influence us the most as a customer.
Facebook has a major involvement in turning social media into a business platform. Product advertisement, references pages, posts they use it all.
Facebook accounts for 50% of total social referrals & 64% of the overall social revenue, according to Business Insider.
It is a steadily growing platform, getting popular each day.
With a swarm of micro-influencers along with an adequate amount of major social influencers, the platform boasts around 500 million monthly active users.
In fact, according to Awario, in 2017, the engagement rate of Instagram was 70% higher than Facebook.
SproutSocial shows that 53% of consumers recommend business or products in tweets while a further 48% follow through to purchase those products or services.
Now, coming to how does social media influence the purchasing decisions of customers?
Rise of social media influencers
A social media influencer is a person who has the power to sway the decisions of their followers.
Influencer marketing has become of the most popular tools for digital marketers.
Suppose an influencer shares a small video of a new pair of jeans & raves about how comfortable they are, obviously her followers would be interested to buy that. Levis often does influencer marketing with popular faces.
Social influencers are typically pretty well-versed on social media and will tag the store or brand of the products they use in their posts. This makes it easier for followers to become familiar with the brand and influence a purchase.
Peer Recommendations
Recommendations from friends & families can influence the buying habit of millennials.
Studies show that nearly 80% of the people buy products recommended by their friend’s group, according to Forbes.
Think yourself only, how many times have you tried a product or a new clothing brand because your friend went ga-ga over it?
This is especially popular among the demographic of 16-30 years, which is the target demography of many online brands!
The store’s presence on social media
An active online presence of the brand on social media has a major significance.
A lot of stores are pretty active on Facebook & Instagram. A consistent feed that showcases their products in use and provides value will help turn visitors into followers and into buyers.
See it is simple, cool posts + lots of followers= higher probability of purchase.
Social Media Advertising
Brands like Nykaa, Levis, Myntra posts regular advertisements on social media. When an individual clicks through a social media ad and lands on the advertiser’s website, retargeting ads can also be placed to move people through the sales funnel.
Advertising in social media can help with repetitive sales. Brands posts about their offers, new collections on social media to involve customers as much as they can.
Remarketing
Remarketing through social media is a very powerful way to attract customers who have already visited your site.
Have you ever noticed that you looked at a product once at some website, say Myntra, & you get ads from them everywhere in your social media handles?
Yes, that is exactly what remarketing is!
E-commerce sites like Ajio or Myntra gives a lot of stress on remarketing!
Engaging customers through contests or discussions
Brands create buzz on social media platforms by creating contests on their pages or replying to customers. Depending on the terms of the contest, businesses usually see a rise in engagement; they gain more followers, increased brand awareness, and sometimes even an increase in sales.
Hopefully, now you can see how social media can really influence your business.
Investing in social media marketing can actually help you to build an empire. Haven’t you heard about Kylie Cosmetics? She uses only social media to advertise her products & they sellout like popcorns!
Interested to build a strong social media marketing to grow your business? Contact us at Skyram Technologies. Our expertise at Social Media Marketing will help your business to reach a whole new level! Connect with us here!
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