In today’s digital world, consumers often use social media as a tool to make purchasing decisions. Whether it be through social media ads, influencer marketing or organic product reviews, social media can have a large impact on a business’s relationship with consumers.
When it comes to the buyer’s journey, there are three main stages: awareness, consideration and decision making. According to SEMrush, social media has the biggest impact on the awareness stage of the buyer journey. In fact, a survey found that 78% of people claim that social media posts by businesses they follow directly influence their purchases. For brands, this means that social media should be used as a tool to promote your presence online and get your products in front of the eyes of consumers.
Stage 1: Awareness
During the awareness stage, buyers begin to identify their needs, problems and opportunities they want to pursue. In other words, buyers have made the initial decision that they need a product or service but have not yet done their research on competing brands.
From a marketing perspective, this is an opportunity to use social media to attract consumers and build brand awareness. This can be done by:
- Publishing and promoting engaging content on social channels
- Connecting and collaborating with social media influencers to further promote your product
- Join conversations about relevant, trending topics through posts and hashtags
Stage 2: Consideration
Once a buyer enters the consideration stage of the buyer journey, they have clearly identified what they want and have started to weigh out their options. By this point, brands have already attracted potential customers to consider their product for purchase. This is an opportunity for brands to convert consumers into potential leads. Brands should create actionable content, such as email blasts or social ads, that continue to address the pros of your product.
Stage 3: Decision Making
In the decision making stage, buyers have landed on a solution that meets their needs. For brands, this means it’s time to close on your lead. Throughout the journey so far, buyers have been made aware of your brand, they’ve been delivered content that solidifies their decision to purchase, and now they are ready to spend money.
This can be an opportunity to create a sense of urgency in order to make sales quickly. To do this brands should create personalized messaging with a special offer that consumers will not want to miss out on, such as a coupon code or unique deal.
Our Recommendations for Social Shopping
To summarize, social media has a huge effect on the consumer buyer journey. To maximize success for catering to social shoppers, here’s a few of our personal tips:
- Before committing to selling products on social media, determine which channels will be the most effective at reaching your target audience
- If you are trying to encourage users to purchase a product through social media channels, you need to be credible on those channels. Users will do research to make sure your company is trustworthy before making a purchase
- Use your social media channels strategically to influence your customers buyer’s journey and give yourself a competitive advantage
Want to learn more about how Quinlan can help you improve your social media presence and influence the consumer buyer journey? Contact us today.
