Consumers Rely More on Social Media. Marketers Beware.

The challenge of marketing against social media grows.

A recent study by Knowledge Networks and MediaPost show brand perceptions and purchase decisions for 38 million in the U.S. are now influenced by social media. The study reported high levels of influence:

• 23.1 million discover new brands or products through social media (up 22% from 2010)
• 22.5 million use social media to learn about unfamiliar brands or products (up 9%)
• 17.8 million are strongly influenced in their purchase decisions by opinions in social media (up 19%)
• 15.1 million refer to social media before making purchase decisions (up 29%)

There’s also been an increase in the number of consumers accessing their social media accounts via their mobile phones. As noted by Chuck Martin, Director of the Center for Media Research at MediaPost Communications, “This move to mobility combined with the increasing influence of social media during the purchase process has great implications for marketers, who will have to look at location as well as which product purchases are most affected.”

Flowtown has a great infographic (see below) to help elaborate on the topic:

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4. Tips for Listening, Engaging and Measuring for Social Media
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