Survey: 58% of Customers Say Social Media Has Influenced a Purchasing Decision

Most marketers are already aware of the importance of utilizing social media. Now, new research suggests that using it may be essential to not only capturing leads, but converting sales.

SUMO Heavy recently conducted the “2018 Social Commerce Revisited” report to determine how customers are currently using social media and how it is influencing the buyer journey. Statistics showed that 48 percent of customers now say they have purchased products or services through social media, which is a slight increase from the 42 percent that said the same back in 2016.

In addition, 58 percent of respondents claimed that social media has influenced a purchase decision, even if it is not initially where a product or service was discovered. This is an increase from the 45 percent that said the same two years ago.

Marketers and the Budget for Social Media

Because of the reliance on social media among customers, marketers are adjusting their budgets accordingly to ensure they are catering to their prospects on these platforms.

The American Marketing Association, Deloitte, and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business published “The CMO Survey,” and found that spend on social media has increased more over the past year (between August 2017-2018) than in any prior survey year.

Back in August 2017, nearly 9.8 percent of marketing budgets went toward social media. As of August 2018, about 13.8 percent of marketing budgets went toward this initiative as marketers look to stay in touch with their target audience.