Social Media Marketing: Following Leads to Buying

For many brands, social media marketing is becoming an increasingly forgotten element of their overall strategy. At the very least, the effort that has gone into social channels appears to have decreased as more stories about how platforms are tipping the scales towards paid social vs. organic and more stories about how the metrics being provided by some platforms are being called into question.

Plus, I get it, everyone and their mom are on social media and so the glow of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest is a little dimmer now vs. some of the more traditional channels. It's no longer something that has to be "figured out". In fact, you may think of your social channels as something that you have to maintain, but not at the level of creativity that you had to a few years ago. They're on autopilot.

However, a new study by Sprout Social may prompt you to rethink your commitment to social. According to their research if someone is following your brand there's a high probability that they will soon be making a purchase - regardless of their age.

The survey found that "Millennials and Gen Xers are twice as likely as baby boomers to follow a brand on social media". However, each generation follows brands for different reasons:

• Millennials typically follow for entertainment and information
• Gen Xers follow for contests and deals
• Boomers follow brands for deals and information

According to Sprout, the percentage of those willing to buy grows even larger - by 14% - when a consumer has a positive interaction with your brand on social media. This, again, occurs across all age groups.

And when you're crafting that strategy, keep in mind what makes them unfollow your brand as well.