Is There Room for Social Media in the Path to Purchase?
Posted on Wed, Apr 20, 2011
Social media – it’s what everyone is talking about. It’s the lead in every media outlet. While it’s generating lots of interest, it may not be translating into the change agent product manufacturers and retailers had hoped for.
Lightspeed Research is the latest to weigh in on the consumer path to purchase and the subsequent role played by social media. Their most recent research shows that shoppers rely most heavily on retail sites, review sites and search engines over their social counterparts.
Lightspeed looked at 1500 consumers in the month of March. Some of the highlights:
- 62% of respondents had consulted online reviews prior to purchase
- 49% had investigated the sites of competing retailers, brands and providers
- 49% had visited price comparison sites
Only 7% of the sample had turned to social networks to learn more about products or specific retail outlets. In fact, Lightspeed’s marketing director noted, “consumers turn most readily to search engines, Consumer Reports, shopping web sites, and review communities for their research, while social networking sites sit at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum.”
Fascinating, that given the tremendous reach of Twitter, the success stories from Facebook and the constant barrage of new social outlets, the aren’t yet tipping the scales for product research and sale. This is perfectly consistent with research comScore conducted last July with iProspect and Searchandise Commerce.
In fact, it’s consistent with a number of sources we’ve been tracking as we all look to better understand the elusive path to purchase:
The Bottom Line: As you plan your media mix to maximize sales, think about the balance, where to spend your budget and effort to get the best bang for the buck. Just because it's getting the most media coverage does not guarantee it will work best for your brand.