PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 8, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Social media users are much more likely to purchase a product as a result of an offer shared by friends or family in their networks than in response to a brand's advertising efforts on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, according to a Yesmail survey.
Yesmail, the email marketing and digital solutions provider within Yes Lifecycle Marketing, surveyed more than 500 active social media users and found consumers are 23 percent more likely to make a purchase from an offer shared by a friend or family member than a sponsored brand post, and 55 percent more likely to buy a recommended product than make a purchase in response to a display ad on a social media site.
"Consumers' increased willingness to make a purchase through friends' social media feeds represents an opportunity for brands to create a network of ambassadors who can sell products for them," said Michael Fisher, president of Yes Lifecycle Marketing.
"This survey reveals consumers are hesitant to click on paid content from brands online and that the reach of Facebook paid brand posts is dropping," said Fisher. "Marketers should not only encourage consumers to post deals on social media, they should actively offer them incentives to share deals with their friends."
The survey found that 34 percent of social media users have shared a product offer with their own networks, but more consumers would be willing to do so if brands offered them incentives, such as additional savings or loyalty points. Forty percent of all social media users said they would be more likely to share promotional deals if incentivized, and 28 percent of those who have never shared offers before said incentives would make them more likely to start sharing.
In addition to offering consumers incentives to share deals on social media, the Yesmail survey found that brands can increase organic consumer engagement in several other ways:
- Use the right channels: Among consumers who have shared a promotional offer with their social media networks, 94 percent have done so on Facebook, compared to 15 percent on Twitter and 10 percent on Pinterest.
- Choose the right product: When asked what kind of product offers they are most likely to share with friends, consumers ranked restaurants (58 percent), entertainment (42 percent), electronics (31 percent), and clothing and accessories (31 percent) in the top three.
- Offer relevant deals: Consumers also said they would also be most likely to share deals that offer percent off (36 percent), money off (26 percent) and buy-one-get-one-free (17 percent).
The survey shows two things primarily drive shares and sales on social media: incentives for the consumer to share offers and the value of referrals from friends and family over brands. Marketers need an alternative to social advertising that organically taps into the power of social networks and word of mouth marketing.
Findings from this survey validate the recently released Yesmail Social Attribution Intelligence, which makes it easy for consumers to share a brand offer they receive by email via their social media channels with the click of a button. Marketers can use the solution to incentivize customers to share deals, track the cumulative shares, and attribute revenue generated by a single customer's share.
About Yesmail Interactive
Yesmail Interactive, Yes Lifecycle Marketing's email marketing solutions provider, powers intelligent customer interactions. We define ourselves by a better caliber of technology, unmatched insights, and skilled services experts that help our clients get to 'YES' sooner with their customers. As a leading email services provider, we seamlessly integrate email, mobile, web, and social channels, enabling the world's best known brands to use data-driven insights to create meaningful connections with their customers in real-time. For more information, visit www.yesmail.com.
About Yes Lifecycle Marketing
Yes Lifecycle Marketing is a solution provider that brings together multichannel marketing platforms and data, with creative and strategy services honed on the optimization of delivering relevant marketing messages. This gives marketers the ability to source best-of-breed technology and creative and strategy services from a single vendor at a cost-effective price point. For more information, visit www.yeslifecyclemarketing.com.