Report Shows Social Media Marketing Boosts Sales
Social media marketing is one of the newest forms of advertising that capitalizes on the rising popularity of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Marketing through social media allows a business to utilize and profit from the use of web 2.0 platforms, such as blogs, social networking sites, and other emerging marketing tools. Effective social media marketing is not a one sided pitchfest; it’s a great way to make meaningful connections with people and educate them about your industry without directly marketing to them. Being able to engage on a personal level with customers differs from the traditional means of advertising, and the results are showing a boost in sales for marketers.
Social Media Marketing Boosts Sales | IBM Report
According to IBM, 9.2 percent of consumers who saw social media marketing campaigns made purchases, compared to the overall conversion rate for web purchases, which IBM pegged at 5.5 percent. Additionally, Facebook is the primary social traffic driver for businesses, as 77 percent of all ecommerce traffic generated from social comes from the channel leader. Beyond social, mobile access to retail websites is expected to increase during the holidays and maintain the the growth moving forward. In the earliest stages of holiday shopping, 11 percent of consumers accessed a website on their smartphone or tablet to research or make a purchase. According to IBM, the figure represents growth of 4.2 percent from the same month last year. In terms of mobile operating systems, both Android and iOS users accessed mobile websites with great frequency.
As a whole, IBM expects mobile web access on retail websites to increase 15 percent in November 2011 compared to November 2010. A mobile website is quickly becoming a competitive necessity for businesses of all kinds. Brafton recently reported that mobile website development has increased 210 percent in 2011 compared to 2010. http://www.brafton.com/news/social-media-marketing-engagement-boost-conversions
This means that companies looking to attract customers in today’s economy need to learn how to project their brand image, not just on television, in print and online, as in the old days, but increasingly by implementing social media marketing techniques that also take into account mobile marketing as well.