Social Media Marketing Part 2: Relevant Statistics

Posted July 31, 2008 - 11:27am by Friend of AmeriStart

Social Media Marketing, or "Web 2.0" (terms used interchangeably) are altering the status quo of American businesses. 
So what is it about Social Media platforms that are so important to doing business in America?  It seems that there is an unusually high level of trust that happens within Social Media marketing platforms.  When it comes to buying and selling, "word of mouth" referrals have incredible impact on buying habits of American consumers in both Business to business and Business to Consumer sales.  Many of AmeriStart's clients are focusing their attention on the impact that this medium is having on their efforts to do business in America.
Today's installement is focused on some of the statistical evidence of Social Media's growing popularity, with particular focus on Consumer Reviews.  The following are some impressive statistics that support the idea that Social Media marketing is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to doing business in America.

CONSUMER STATISTICS

  • 91% of US adults regularly or occasionally seek advice about products or services. (BIGresearch)
     
  • 71% of online shoppers read reviews, making it the most widely read consumer‐generated content. (Forrester).
     
  • Online social network users were three times more likely to trust their peers’ opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions. (“Social Networking Sites: Defining Advertising Opportunities in a Competitive Landscape,” JupiterResearch, March 2007).
     
  • Consumers trust friends above experts when it comes to product recommendations (65% trust friends, 27% trust experts, 8% trust celebrities). (Yankelovich)
     
  • By 2020, 84% of marketers agree that building customer trust will become marketing’s primary objective, and 82% agree that collaboration with customers will prevail over marketing. (1to1 Media survey of the 1to1 Xchange panel, April, 2008).
     
  • The share of traffic to question‐and‐answer Web sites has more than doubled from 2007 to 2008 (HitWise, 2008).

Those statistics are just a small sampling of the amount of research that American companies have invested into understanding this now mainstream trend.  This form of decentralized content is both a concern and opportunity in America.
BOTTOM LINE
When you begin to sell and market in America, you'll need to consider how consumers are going to affect your sales.  You can empower consumers to assist you or its even possible that they may hurt your efforst if you ignore the importance of Social Media marketing.  What will you do?