It becomes completely understanding the amount of time we spend on the social media pondering over which brand we should buy given the fact that that it shows all the compatibility we need. This is one of the most formidable reasons as to why brands spend so much time and money courting millennials on the social media.
In other words, social media optimization has become one of the best modes of selling products online. Digital marketing, though complex and expensive has continued to grow and the reason for such growth is internet oriented purchasing patterns.
Social Media, in the last few years, has evolved more as a powerful influencer when it comes to the purchasing decisions of millennials. More than 70% of the users report buying fashion and beauty products based on the recommendations made on the Instagram posts. Similarly, we can see much influencing going on on Facebook and other social media channels as well. What can be the possible reasons for such an unprecedented growth of reliance on Social Media? Here are some of the possible reasons:
Recommendations of user carry lot of weight
When we go ahead to buy a product on Amazon, we tend to give more attention to the reviews and ratings given by the users and it similarly makes up our mind towards buying those products. So, peer recommendations can reap a lot of customer conversions. According to a HubSpot data, 71% of the buyers are supposed to make a purchase online if the product or service comes recommended by others with good ratings. This may be driven by the advertisement networks or traditional inherent trust on the brand. They simply tend to believe on the reviews and opinions made by their peers.
However, Mckinsey has a different story to tell. It believes that a small number of influencers are more accountable for driving major shares of referrals received by the Social Media. For products such as shoes and clothing, it was discovered that 5% of the influencers offering product recommendations were driving 45% of social influence.
Fashion Brands have more to lose on Social Media Influencing
In the recent times, Facebook and Instagram have made different names in the advertisement than in Social Connections. The consumer groups in Fashion niche are influenced more through social media platforms which hold a lot of sway. They start trends, determine what is cool and desirable and curate the must-have items as fashion magazine used to do in earlier times. For example, in the month of August, Nordstrom’s 80% of the mobile traffic came from a single influencer, RewardStyle Network. This same influencer network also drove 21.94% of Sephora’s traffic, 34% of traffic to revolve.com and 30.83% to Net-A-Porter. What does it tell?
It asks the companies to recognize the ear of the millennials like the bloggers, Vloggers, Publishers, and YouTubers etc. These people drive the sales of any product these days with their voices regarded as the end all for any product.
User Generated Content has more say these days while shopping for general people. According to Gartner Research, 84% of the masses are likely to get influenced to make a purchase based upon user-generated content that is created by a stranger. For example, Covergirl has worked to create relationships with popular beauty vloggers James Charles and Nura Afia.
Engagement and Promotion of Products
Apart from Social Media platforms, Brands do have their own voice to sell themselves. Often they take the form of advertisement through print or electronic media. Having stronger say in their brand advertisement could lift their status quo altogether.