Social media is increasingly present in consumers' lives — they are dedicating more and more time to it and using it more and more as a tool for understanding what is happening, for seeking references, and for interacting with those they want to connect with.
This social media boom and the growth in its importance and influence has had a direct effect on brand dynamics and on how consumers analyse products. Social media has become a space where consumers increasingly look for information about things that interest them and products they want to buy, while placing ever greater value on the information they find there.
In fact, social media has shifted what is considered relevant and has created new centres of interest and new influential spaces. Consumers place greater value on opinions posted by other consumers and follow social influencers' recommendations more (compared to media outlets or celebrities) than they used to. And all of this is having a direct impact not only on the social channels themselves but also on other communication channels between consumers and brands.
This has caused traditional media to begin losing ground to new media. In fact, as a study by Influence Central demonstrates, social media is already beating the old mainstream media. According to its findings, social media now carries far more weight than television in consumers' purchase decisions. A positive update or mention reaches more consumers than what is said on TV.
Consumers are increasingly taking into account the information they receive through social media. 81% of consumers who participated in the study said they frequently buy products after seeing information about them shared on social media. Three-quarters of consumers also say that before buying a product they analyse what is being said about it on social media.
Why does what is or is not said about things on social media matter so much?
Consumers have a different perception of what happens on social media compared to other settings. Things posted on social media seem far more authentic than what appears in other channels.
That is why what happens on Twitter, Facebook, and similar platforms is seen as far more relevant than what happens in other settings. Just 1.9% of buyers say a TV advertisement influences their purchase decision, and only 2.2% believe that articles in newspapers and magazines do. Social media beats all those figures. "Participants noted that seeing a positive update or a review on social media influences their decision to buy the product three times more than the number of people" talking about it.
