A recent study has found that consumers who follow brands on social media such as Facebook and Twitter are more likely to buy their products since becoming a fan/follower.
Common sense would probably indicate the same without the need for research. If a consumer elects to receive a brand’s messaging on their Facebook news stream or Twitter feed, that consumer is already likely to be a champion of the brand. It is just natural that such a consumer would then be more likely to buy that brand’s products.
Assuming that social media prompts consumers to buy would be a leap of faith not justified by this research. The only role it plays, according to this piece of research, is to prompt consumers who already like a brand to buy more of its products.
iModerate Research Technologies and consumer market research firm, Chadwick Martin Bailey, conducted the survey on the effect social media has on brand followers in February 2010 across more than 1,500 adult respondents in the U.S.A.
The study reveals that 60% of Facebook fans and 79% of Twitter followers are more likely to recommend brands that they follow or become fans of. Similarly, they are more likely to buy products of those brands.
51% of Facebook fans and 67% of Twitter followers said they were more likely to buy from the brands that they follow.
Vice President at Chadwick Martin Bailey, Josh Mendelsohn says, “Companies not actively engaged are missing a huge opportunity and are saying something to consumers – intentionally or unintentionally – about how willing they are to engage on consumers’ terms.”
Consumers of both sexes and various age groups who participated in the study also felt that brands that are not involved on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are either unaware of the opportunity they are missing or are not very interested in interacting with their consumers.
Considering that Facebook has over 400 million active users and 50 million tweets are posted on Twitter every day, the brands that are not on these networks are certainly missing the opportunity to reach a large audience.
According to eConsultancy, most consumers follow a brand to get discounts, but about 2% of them said they follow the brand to show support for it.
