The Importance Of Social Media
A brief introduction to the commercial potential of the
ever-changing digital world
The Importance of Social Media
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Social media is fast becoming the new front door for any
business. A venerable powerhouse, supporting nearly every
marketing objective from brand awareness to advocacy over the
past decade.
68% of the UK population are active Social Media users,
highlighting the increased demand for effective social media
marketing.
Consumers are spending up to 3 hours on Social Media
platforms per day and even longer looking at their mobile
screens
When it comes to using Social Media, consumers in the US and
UK say researching products, entertainment and news/current
events are important to them.
Almost a third of online consumers use social media to research
and find products to buy. Consumers now go on social to
connect with their favourite brands, research products, and
purchase the products they research.
Social Media’s Impact Across The Purchase Journey
% of Internet users who…
Discover brands via ads on social media
28%
Discover brands via recommendations/comments on social media
25%
Use social networks to research products
42%
Clicked on a sponsored post on Instagram (among Instagram visitors)
17%
Motivated to purchase by lots of likes/good comments on social media
22%
Motivated to purchase by a “buy” button
12%
Question: How do you typically find out about new brands and products? Which of the following online sources do you
mainly use when you are actively looking for more information about brands, products, or services? On Instagram, which of
these have you done in the last month? When shopping online, which of these features would most increase your likelihood
of buying a product?
Source: GlobalWebIndex Q2 2019 Base: 139,658 internet users aged 16-64 and 73,470 Instagram monthly visitors/users
The Importance of Social Media
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71% of all decision makers say social media is influential when
they’re researching or considering a new product for their
company.
Those aged 55-64, however, say blogs and online ads are on par
with social media as a source of product information.
Social Media platforms are also gradually becoming a place to
complete purchases, as networks mature further
Social Media is the golden thread of the whole customer
journey throughout, as it allows a unified customer experience,
as people are buying into experiences, not just products. Social
compresses the customer journey from days to hours.
Social media is valuable for businesses of any size or industry,
and finding customers on social media has a direct impact on
sales and your bottom line.
Content used for research on social
% of decision makers who use these platforms to research new
products/services find the following social media content most useful
Posts by users
of the product
Posts by
companies
Conversations
with friends or
colleagues
Posts by
Influencers/
Thought
Leaders
62%
60%
52%
46%
64%
61%
54%
49%
66%
64%
52%
52%
64%
64%
56%
52%
60%
58%
54%
46%
63%
61%
53%
46%
Question: Which social media sites do you use to research/consider new products/services?
When using social media to research products or services, which of the following do you find useful?
Source:GlobalWebIndex Work 2019 Base: 11,653 decision makers aged 16-64
The Importance of Social Media
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The role of social media in the purchase journey is by no means
reserved to the much-coveted purchasing stage via a “buy” button on
a social platform. In reality, social media brings added value to each
stage of this process. Only with this in mind can the true potential of
social channels’ role in the purchase journey be realized.
Social commerce must be viewed within the frame of omni-channel
retail strategies and beyond clicking “buy” buttons on social platforms.
Shoppers are increasingly making use of a multitude of channels when
looking for and buying products online. Social channels can be used in
conjunction with – and complementary to – other commerce channels
to provide a convenient and seamless consumer experience at each
stage of the purchase journey.
Social Media today has evolved to more than just a space for
communication, content sharing and news consumption. It has
increasingly become not only a tool where general networking can
easily take place, but also a space that serves the needs of businesses
– everything from advertising and marketing to ecommerce
sales. But it’s the possibility of completing the purchase journey
while remaining within the ecosystem of these social platforms which
has emerged as the “holy grail” in the development of social
commerce.
Social media is, now more than ever, a powerful
tool for
1.
Retrieving consumer insights
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Generating brand awareness, as well as
maintaining relevancy
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Providing a seamless shopping experience
Storytelling Highlight The Different Parts of Your Business
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As a Branding and Marketing tool, Social Media is extremely important
not only to sell a specific product, but also to create an experience, to
share the passion and work put into the actual final product.
With basic Marketing Principles in mind, and looking at the “Brand
Actions on Social That Prompt Consumers to Purchase” graph, it is
important to communicate to the consumer what Wine really is: the
passion committed generations put into a product that will be enjoyed
by other families. It’s the vineyard, and the teams that look after it all
year round. It’s the winery, the processes, methods and equipment.
It’s the winemaker, their experience and unique style. It’s craft,
knowledge, art and technology. Wine is where nature, innovation and
love all come together. And this is fascinating, whether one is a true
connoisseur or the occasional drinker.
This inevitably touches point with Tourism, which in turn brings out a
panoply of related topics not only for their commercial value, but to
help sell your story and create a customer experience. You can share
your winemaking, viticulture and, grape and wine varieties, alongside
cellar door, culinary and other visitor experiences.
Brand Actions on Social That Prompt Consumers
to Purchase
% of Internet users who…
Being Responsive
48%
Offering Promotions
46%
Providing Educational Content
42%
Sharing Interesting Visuals
38%
Being Funny
36%
Offering Exclusive Content
35%
Providing Behind the Scenes Content
27%
Source: SproutSocial.com/index, Q2 2017
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There’s a real opportunity to explore, develop and promote English
and Welsh authentic wine experiences and recognise the UK as a
global destination for international and domestic visitors through
lifestyle offering as well as niche “wine tourists”, who choose their
routes based on wine and food experiences.
Because these topics are all so interconnected and with no pre-defined guidelines of
where one ends and the other begins, the points made throughout this document are all
entirely relevant for whichever side of the business you’re looking into communicate and
promote through your social channels. In fact, they should all be, as together they tell a
story!
Knowing Your Audience
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One reason whyt using social media for business is so effective is that you
can micro-target your audience. But first, you need to understand who your
audience is.
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Social media allows companies to listen in on unfiltered conversations
consumers are having about their preferences, experiences, and
habits.
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Start by thinking about your target customer. Then, compile data on your
current customers. Then, dig deeper with social media analytics. You’ll start
to develop a solid picture of who’s buying from and interacting with you
online.
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What are their interests?
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Their location?
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Their age?
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Occupation?
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What do they use their social channels for?
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And based on all this, what would they like to see from your brand?
Current trends are very applicable to your social media content. Topics like
sustainability, veganism, zero waste, natural produce, local produce, and so
many other trending topics will help you capture eyes and hearts.
of people who use Twitter
do so to keep up to date
with the world around
them
to keep up to date
with friends and family
To keep up to date
with what’s trendy
Current Consumer Trends
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Today, the consumer is empowered, dynamic and proactive
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85% wants a blend of physical and digital
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78% are happier monitoring their digital usage – which makes it extremely
important to know what is relevant to a specific audience and when are the key
hours to reach them. Make the right offer at the right time to optimize the
result
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Approximately half of Social Media users block ads – which makes it more
difficult to connect to the consumer through paid ads. This shows how
companies should focus on growing their organic reach, which is a long-term
goal but a sustainable one.
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Context and control are fundamental to the age of the audience. An example of
this, Team Mates which will be launched by Linkedin, through which people
connect to people they actually work with in real life.
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Consider integrating social commerce in your strategy. Consumers are using
social media for more purpose-driven activities and research suggests it has the
potential to become mainstream.
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The top motivations for using social include public content consumption
• to research/find products to buy
• to find funny or entertaining content
• to stay up-to-date with news and current events
The Role of Social in the Online Shoppers’
Purchase Journey
A. Social media is a go-to in the research and discovery stages of the
purchase journey.
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24% of online shoppers discover brands through review sites, with 58% of the online
population interacting with reviews in some way during their purchase journey.
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While 51% of the online population have used an ad-blocker to stop ads being
displayed in the past month, online ads still feature high on the list, with 1 in 4
discovering brands this way.
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The effectiveness of online ads garnering users’ attention is prevalent in younger
generations especially: 3 in 10 Gen Zs and millennials typically discover new brands
through ads seen on social media
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Although vlogs and influencer-based content are widely discussed in the industry,
they’re most suited to younger demographics, since 16-24-year-olds are 38% more
likely to discover brands through vlogs
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When it comes to product research, younger consumers look to social media
before search engines to get more information on products
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For millennials, visiting certain brands’ websites regularly remains a popular form of
brand research.
The Role of Social in the Online Shoppers’
Purchase Journey
B. 92% of millennials visit an online retail site or store such as Amazon each
month.
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In addition, 12% of internet users interact with brands when doing research on
messaging apps, showing the importance of convenience and immediacy in social
brand consumer relationships, and indicating the growing potential for chatbots.
C. Social platforms provide important brand-consumer touchpoints.
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Increasingly social media has evolved into a space that serves the needs of businesses –
everything from advertising, to brand-consumer engagement and ecommerce sales.
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At present, 38% of internet users follow their favourite brands on social media, with
25% following brands they are thinking of buying something from.
What this means for brands: Maintaining a strong social media presence is a
prerequisite to reach consumers who follow and research brands on social media, but
traditional content and SEO strategies haven’t lost their appeal- and are still more
important in most cases.
Sources
Does Social Media Matter in the B2B Purchase Journey?
https://blog.globalwebindex.com/chart-of-the-week/social-and-the-b2b-purchase-journey/
Edition XV: Empower & Elevate, Sprout Social
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/data/index/
Hootsuite Webinar: “Future of the Customer”
Social Flagship Report 2019, GlobalWebIndex
https://www.globalwebindex.com/reports
Social Commerce Trends
https://bit.ly/2QA81gG
Author: Joana Demarche Albogas
January 2020