How Consumers Interact With Social Media Sites (Facebook Dominates)

I’m very interested in any data to help businesses maximize their return on investment with social media.

So I was happy to see ForeSee Results publish some simple findings recenty in their Key to Driving Retail Success with Social Media: Focus on Facebook (note: this is a PDF file that you download).

They surveyed 10,000 visitors to the top 40 online retail Web sites.

Some highlights I found in this brief report are:

• 69% of online shoppers use social media sites (social media users)

Of online shoppers who frequent social media sites:

• 61% friend or follow 1 to 5 retailers or brands
• 21% friend or follow 6 to 10 retailers or brands
• 10% friend or follow 11 to 20 retailers or brands
• 8% friend or follow more than 20 retailers

Note: “Friend” and “Follow” refer to customers agreeing to have an online connection with a retailer/brand.

The report asserts that:

“Site visitors who also interact with a company on a social media site are more satisfied,more committed to the brand, and more likely to make future purchases from that company.”

Facebook is the dominant social network for People Visiting Online Retail Sites

The table below indicates how dominant Facebook has become — it’s more than twice as popular as #2 YouTube and more than 3X as popular as MySpace.

Source: Foresee Results

While Facebook is clearly dominant, the report points out that 25 of the top 100 online retailers do not have any formal Facebook presence.

And finally, here’s some insight into why consumers interact with businesses through social media.

The Top Three Reasons Customers Interact With a Business’s Social Media Site:

1. To Learn About Sales or Special Offers (49%)
2. To Learn About Products (45%)
3. To Get Customer Support (5%)

I’ll continue to share whatever I find on improving your ROI through social media.