7 Social Media Trends for Consumers

I recently came across an article on the trends in social media. Little surprise to most of us small business owners - the research shows social media is becoming more and more important to business. As a way to reach customers and potential customers where they are, social media may be the new customer service and research hotlines!

I’ve summarized the research findings in this blog – if you’re interested in the details, click http://bit.ly/FamMagSocialMedia to access the complete article.

7 Social Media Trends for Consumers: New Research

#1: More Time Invested in Mobile

Consumers are increasingly looking to their smart phones and tablets to access social media. 2012 saw a 63% increase over to 2011 activity.

#2: Pinterest Usage Continues to Rise

Pinterest is the most visited social media site. More importantly to businesses though is that 1 in 5 Pinterest users has pinned an item that they later purchased. In the social world, this is a high conversion rate.

#3: Social Networking = Positive Sentiments

76% of participants said they experienced positive feelings after engaging in social networking. Some of the words used to describe how they felt were: informed, energized, excited, connected and amused.

#4: Twitter Drives Social TV

A third of active Twitter users tweeted about TV-related content. TV advertisers benefit from incorporating hashtags or tweetable sound bites in their TV commercials. Encouraging Twitter activity prolongs the conversation about brands beyond the TV and generates word-of-mouth marketing.

#5: Social Care is the New Customer Care

The study revealed that one in three social media users prefers social care to contacting a company by phone. Gives businesses a reason to be active on our social media sites!

#6: Mixed Feelings about Social Ads

33% of people surveyed find ads on social networks to be annoying. However, 26% are likely to pay attention to an ad posted by a friend so if you can get someone to like, share or comment, you have a better in.

#7: Social Listening a Key Consumer Activity

Consumers are using social media to listen and learn about other consumers’ experiences (70%); find more information about brands, products and services (65%); and compliment brands (53%). No question that we trust our friends opinions more than traditional ads. In person and online.