#Ask8now – How #SocialMedia Affects Buying Decisions
Ever wondered how social media effects buying decisions?
Here are some figures you don’t want to ignore..

How Social Media Affects Buying Decisions

Have you ever wondered how social media effects buying decisions? According to the stats, 71% of customers are more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals. Twitter is a top influence when it comes to buying electronics. 49% of people use Facebook to find restaurants and 44% of potential customers say that they look for recommendations on their favorite blogs before making a buying decision. That means you should not ignore the power of social media to influence people’s buying decisions.

Consider the fact that 32.5% of women say they’ve been influenced by a special promotion they saw on Facebook and moms are 45% more likely than other women to look for recommendations online before buying. Those are figures you don’t want to ignore when women are still generally the decision-makers when it comes to buying household and baby products, and if you have a solid social media strategy in place, you can use those figures in a tactful way that makes women more likely to buy from you.

Although Facebook is still king when it comes to getting people talking about consumer products, you should not ignore other avenues for getting your products on social media sites. Blogs and forums are often overlooked in a social marketing strategy and the businesses that ignore these social media tools are missing out on sales. Adding a blog to your website is an excellent way to offer insider tips and tricks to maximize the value that potential customers get out of what you’e selling. While a well-moderated forum will discourage the posting of any links that look like an attempt to spam, most forums are a bit more lenient about links in a forum signature and it’s not very difficult to build your reputation as someone who knows your stuff by spending a half hour a day answering other members’; questions on the most active forums that are related to your niche. When 44% of automotive consumers look for advice on a forum, this can be a half hour a day well-spent in using social media to reach an audience.

Above all, the existence of social media means that you can get consumers to do part of the marketing-related leg work for you by sharing your posts and talking about your products. This is the entire reason that affiliate marketing exists, but you don’t necessarily need to have a formal affiliate marketing program to get people talking about what you have to offer. A typical conversation about a product might be, “Hey, you look good, have you been hitting the gym?” “Oh, sure, I’ve been going to Title Boxing Club.” See, they just talked about a real membership gym called Title Boxing Club. The ways that social media effects buying decisions is something you can take advantage of.