The media landscape is always shifting, but the last three years has potentially resulted in the largest shift ever. Word of mouth marketing has proliferated on the Internet via social media sites, blogs and microblogging. Bloggers have become major Influencers in purchasing decisions. Consumers’ opinions on products are now published and viewed in vast quantities.  Microblogging drives brand perception. While brands can no longer “control” their message, they can be part of – and “manage” – the conversation around their brands.

The benefits of social media marketing contribute directly to brand perception and purchase behavior. Consider the following data:

people trust social media connections

Consumers who trust social recommendations	Shoppers whose purchase decisions are influenced by social media content	Consumers who actually trust advertising

Source: Nielsen Global Consumer Study, comScore

social media drives purchase

Twitter followers are 67% more likely to buy your products	Facebook "likes" are 51% more likely to buy your products	Facebook fans are 41% more likely to recommend your products

Source: Chadwick Martin Bailey/iModerate Research Technologies

the influencers: trusted, authentic and growing

61% of active users have made purchases based on a recommendation from blogs vs 31% from Twitter

Blogs: 61% x 134 million readers = 81,740,000 Twitter: 31% x 140 million users = 43,400,000

Nearly TWICE as many people are 
making purchase decisions based on reading BLOGS!

Source: a BlogHER study, "Women in Social Media 2012"