Gallup asked over 18,000 consumers about how much influence social media has on their “buying decisions,” and the feedback was less than encouraging for social media marketers. A whopping 62 percent said that social media had “no influence at all” on their purchasing habits and 30 percent gave a tepid “some influence” response.
Only five percent said that social media has a “great deal” of influence on their buying decisions.
Things get a little better when you just ask millennials (at whom most of this social media advertising is aimed). Only 48 percent said they couldn’t give less of a damn about social media advertising.
Conclusion: Social media entails just a fragment of a consumer’s experience with a company. Customers are much more likely to be active listeners and participants in a brand’s social media community when they have already made an emotional connection with that brand through other experiences.
At LA Management Company we encourage our clients to build and utilize social media as an ongoing communication tool. It should be used to engage, inform and keep the company top-of-mind.
