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How Social Media Content Can Impact Customer Buying Intention

Social media has become an important mode for marketers to engage with their customers. As of early 2020, 3.8 billion people around the globe were on social media. Through social media marketing, businesses can target their potential customers on social media and convert them. Not only can it help you reach out to these people but it can also shape their buying behavior and intention. You can improve your brand trust and get them to purchase from you through it.

But how does social media help you achieve this? Let’s find out.

4 Ways Social Media Impacts the Buying Intentions of Consumers

Here’s how social media impacts the buying intentions of consumers.

1. Reviews 

Social media has created a space for open interactions between individuals. When brands create their pages, social media users can write reviews about the brand and leave ratings as well. These reviews and ratings are crucial because people tend to read reviews before they purchase anything from a brand. They trigger the customer’s purchasing motivation. Since the review comes from an end-user, the consumers are more likely to trust the opinions of the consumer.

Positive reviews can have a huge impact on your conversion rates. In fact, a 0.1% increase in your star rating can boost your conversion rate by 25%. The reviews inform your target audience that your product meets their needs. This can lead to better brand trust as well. In fact, 93% of consumers agree that positive reviews can increase their trust in a brand online.

While the reviews may not be from someone they know, it appears to be legitimate as it comes from the end consumers.

That’s why you should encourage your customers to leave online reviews. You can do this by asking customers to leave a review once they purchase your product. After they’ve received their product, you can send out an automated SMS or email that asks them to review your product on social media. To incentivize them, you can provide them with a discount or promo code too.

2. Influencer Testimonials

Influencer marketing is a powerful marketing tool for brands on social media. This marketing strategy leverages the power of influencers to achieve brand visibility and boost sales.

Social media platforms paved the way for the rise of influencers. These social media stars have established emotional connections with their audiences. Additionally, they’re perceived as authorities in their niches. Hence, their followers are likely to believe their recommendations. In fact, today, 41% of consumers find new brands or products weekly through influencers. Hence, partnering with influencers and getting them to write testimonials is a great way of impacting the consumer buying intention.

However, influencer marketing is not without challenges. One of the biggest challenges that marketers are facing is finding genuine influencers. This is because there are many fake accounts on social media and partnering with influencers who have fake followers may not be fruitful for you.

Also, even legitimate influencers may not necessarily be able to drive conversions. This may be due to the following:

  1. Poor-quality sponsored content
  2. Influencer’s vision does not reflect that of the brand
  3. They may not like the campaign

The secret to finding the right influencers for your campaign is extensively researching your audience and the influencer. Go through their profile and check their engagement rate, reach, and audience demographics before reaching out to them for a collaboration. Alternatively, you can use an influencer marketing platform to save time and increase your chances of success.

3. User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) transforms customers into brand ambassadors. This strategy is an effective way to impact consumers’ buying intentions as consumers will get their information from people they know. According to research, 50% of consumers said they’re more likely to purchase products through a brand’s social channel due to UGC.

But that’s not all.

79% of consumers admit that UGC highly impacts their buying decisions.

What’s more?

56% of consumers say that user-generated photos and videos are the content that they want to see the most from brands.

To encourage your customers to create content around your brand, you can incentivize them by promoting their content on your social accounts. By doing so, they’ll get added exposure and you’ll get unique, high-quality content, which can help you stand out on social media.

4. Personalized Content

Personalized content is content that is tailored to your audience. Such content aims to create a unique experience for your customers. Studies show that 59% of customers admit that personalization influences their purchasing decision.

However, for creating personalized content, you need to have enough data on your consumers. It is only based on this data that you can tailor your content to their needs.

Your first step towards creating personalized content is conducting a content audit. This involves looking at all of the content on your social media channels and determining the strengths and weaknesses of each.

A content audit provides you with relevant information that boosts your content marketing strategy. Once you know what type of content your audience engages with the most, then you can develop personalized content. This, in turn, can improve your customer experience as they’ll get exactly what they want to see. As a result, they’ll be more inclined to purchase from you.

Final Thoughts

Social media provides a great opportunity for you to impact the buying intentions of consumers. You can leverage reviews, partner with influencers, and encourage your customers to create content to do so.

You should also study your audience and create content that’s customized to their requirements. This can help you win them over and change their buying intentions.

Have you used any of these methods before? Let us know how they impacted the buying intentions of your consumers. And if you have any questions about the strategies above, let us know. We’re always happy to help.

Shane Barker
Shane Barkerhttps://shanebarker.com/services/influencer-marketing/
Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, content marketing, and SEO. He is the Co-Founder of Attrock, a digital marketing agency. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.

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CONVERSATIONS

  1. Who deals with the evolution of consumption has long understud that the involvement of customers for a company is more incisive in the phase after the purchase. Behind the photos (bar, the dish served at the table, a breathtaking view) shared on social networks, there is a business that goes far beyond those shots. It’s called (for those few who still unknown this trend) “experience economy”!
    A real revolution in spending behavior driven especially by young people, 74% of which declares to be pleased to share their experiences on social media. In general, today, people prefer to spend money on a live event rather than buying something. The imperative today is “access”, not possession. Sharing experiences with friends and family is now considered more fulfilling than showing and owning objects. It is from here that the proliferation of influencers arrives, that share their way of life on Instagram with videos and photos of hotels, places and restaurants.
    And the photos are the best tool to capture, and then share, an emotional experience. In Japan the word “insta-bae” (awarded as the word of the year) has spread, which associates Instagram with the verb to shine, and means it is so beautiful to put on Instagram. In short, while before more and more people were choosing a place to eat and then take pictures, now they go to a place first to take a picture (possibly professional) and then put it on Instagram.This trend has also become the cornerstone of business success, particularly for those operating in the hospitality, travel and entertainment sectors. These companies must be ready to offer their customers (through a partnership wjth photo professionals) or just suggest, a photo shoot that creates in the customer that emotional experience that they will then want to put on Instagram or, in any case, share on social media.

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