By adaptive - October 3rd, 2012

Hi all, Hope everyone is well? Plenty of activity across the social web this week… Less than 1% of online purchases are influenced by social media [T]his is the claim from a new report fr...

Hi all,

Hope everyone is well?

Plenty of activity across the social web this week…

Less than 1% of online purchases are influenced by social media

facebook-shoppingThis is the claim from a new report from Forrester. "In spite of changes to the interactive marketing landscape and the growing number of shoppers using mobile and tablet devices to access content, core elements of web marketing continue to be effective," writes Forrester Analyst Sucharita Mulpuru.

The key findings of the report include:

  • Multiple platforms influence many buyers. While 33% of transactions by new customers involve more than one trackable touchpoint, 48% of repeat customers visit multiple trackable touchpoints. The most popular platforms include organic search, paid search, and email.
  • Email and direct traffic matter for frequent customers. Thirty percent of transactions by repeat customers start with an email from the retailer, and an additional 30% type the retailer's URL directly into a browser.
  • Social tactics are not meaningful sales drivers. Forty-eight percent of consumers reported that social media posts are a great way to discover new products, brands, trends, or retailers, but less than 1% of transactions could be traced back to trackable social links.

The report throws new light on the market mix that corporations are now using to reach their customers. Social media may not yet have a directly attributable impact on conversion rates just yet, but it is inevitable that this will change in the short term as social shopping gains traction.

The meaning of Like

The Meaning of LikeA new infographic from Symphony Teleca gives an insight into how today’s online customers are using smart devices to move their shopping experiences into real time. Coupling social retail with social analytics shows that the online retail channel is alive and well with a predicted 167 million shoppers this year spending on average $1,800 each. The research also confirms that the smart phone is now a key shopper asset with these devices increasingly being used to gather additional information before a purchase is made.

For online retailers the advice is clear: you have to have a presence on mobile as your customers will increasingly demand information delivered to their handsets. Brand owners that want to further engage with mobile shoppers need to ramp up the amount of information available via these platforms to maintain their market share.

 Cadbury use Google+ for world’s first PR stunt

Cadbury Google+ CampaignGoogle+ has yet to prove itself to be a contender in the social media space, but one brand decided to embrace this network for a new product launch. Cadbury used the platform to exclusively announce a new flavour via its Google+ Hangout. Selected Cadbury fans could be watched sampling the new flavours. Cadbury currently have the largest community on Google+ standing at over 2.5 million, proving that the platform can be effective.

Jerry Daykin, Social Media Manager at Kraft Foods, said: “When we announced the original Dairy Milk Bubbly on Google+ back in January the response was incredible, with the post sticking at the top of the “What’s Hot” section for millions to see.

“Now that we’ve built a ten times larger community on the platform it felt right to reward fans with something bigger and more exclusive. We see Hangouts as a great opportunity to directly connect with some of our most enthusiastic fans whilst creating content we can share more widely with millions; we’ve also consistently seen that increased activity on our Google+ Page boosts our wider search rankings and website visits.”

 In Brief…

The changing customer

A new infographic from Drumbi looks closely at how technology has changed customer interactions. As Drumbi state: “You can now Tweet a complaint to your bank. You can like a post on your cable company’s Facebook page. Social media is not just for connecting with friends and family anymore. Smartphones and asynchronous communications, like SMS, Tweeting and posting to Facebook, are the tools for this change. Because of it, we’re now connected more than ever. Instantly. Will businesses be ready to take on this change? The answer is they have no other choice. It’s going to happen whether they like it or not.”

Social media’s biggest blunders

Social media has been somewhat of a minefield that companies have had to navigate as they developed an understanding of the rules of engagement. An infographic from MDG Advertising makes for sobering reading. Some of the biggest blunders in the social media environment are outlined. Food for thought if your business is looking at how it could expand its presence across the social space.

The Internet goes pink to support breast cancer awareness month

Now in its 12th year, the ELC (Estée Lauder Companies) Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign has raised over $35 million to fund a number of projects including 140 breast cancer research foundation grants in 70 countries. Since the first ribbons were distributed by Estée Lauder from 1992, the campaign has gone digital. At the centre is of course the campaign’s Facebook page. Marisa Thalberg, VP of global corporate digital marketing at the Estée Lauder Companies commented: “Social media was made for social causes.”

Until next time….

The Useful Social Media team.

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