A recent survey by 8thBridge, which is a social commerce provider noted that Facebook still tops other social media site like Pinterest and Twitter for sharing!
In fact of those users that DO share products, over 60% do so using Facebook whilst close to 25% did so using Twitter and only 20% did so using Pinterest!
I have never been one to jump on the bandwagon of Pinterest and some may say that the 20% statistic proves me right. However, I have always been one to contradict myself with Social Media and I will tell you why.
I don’t like using the spray gun technique and just use all channels for the sake of it without a plan, however depending on your business type picking up just 1 client using that technique may make it all worthwhile. That may not be the case if you are selling low cost, high volume products though.
Never ignore the “tail”, meaning that although Twitter and Pinterest may only generate 20 & 25% shares, combining the both of them still gets you close to 50%, so not a bad result…..if you have the resources.
The takeaway from all of this is as follows. If you have limited time and resources focus on the channel with the best sharing results, which in this case is Facebook and allocate your spare time accordingly to the other channels.
If you automate all your social media channels that post to all automatically that works even better.
Interestingly 31% still do not share on social media.
The most popular reason for sharing though is because users WANT to share their tastes and preferences (38%) and recommend products (35%). That is very powerful as it again highlights the power of social media and users sharing because they WANT to, not because the feel obliged.
However, 30% shared just to get a discount in return (a marketing opportunity right there) and 15% shared as required by a sweepstake entry (added value of creating sweepstakes).
So…..Social Media works as we already know, however we must know the pretenders from the contenders and allocate resources accordingly.
Good luck and may 2013 be a crazy good year for you all.
