Hi Dave,
I will have a look at the link. Thanks for answering.
Cheers,
Juan

Hi Juan, thanks for your comment + question.

The Forrester research is quantitative – based on analytics, so AFAIK is the best quant data on this.
Hitwise does report on this, but the correlation is not as clear as that from analytics – see http://www.smartinsights.com/online-pr/online-pr-outreach/social-content-sharing/.
Dave

Hi Dave,

Very interesting points in your article and comments, including the arguments of Andrew.

I am just wondering if you know of other research that has quantitatively measured the influence of social media posts on online transactions.

Regards,
Juan Villanueva

Nice!

But do we even know that half is working? You’re right to highlight the technical limitations – I fear we will never know which half… You can’t really do controlled testing of social media like paid media unfortunately.
Dave

Hello Dan, you’re right! This is why I disliked the over-simplistic implication of the BI piece that “Social media are pointless”.
They should have commented in a more balanced article, as you have:

“Most transactions aren’t instant. So “business” might not happen right there and then (or if it does it is very rare to and different depending on b2b and b2c) but it happens later on and with social disproportionately well for SME’s ;)”.
You need to develop brand awareness and preference to help convert online visitors and this benefit of social media marketing isn’t being measured here.
Dave

nice – wish i had thought of that 🙂

The headline is like one saying no business comes from networking events or out of drinking in bars!

Most transactions aren’t instant. So “business” might not happen right there and then (or if it does it is very rare to and different depending on b2b and b2c) but it happens later on and with social disproportionately well for SME’s 😉

Great end point. It might be the way it’s tracked after all of this…..

Hi Maria

Using Social Media for lifestyle and conversational reasons is perfectly valid. I do so myself all of the time.

Establishing a conversation with followers is valid for every organisation.

But if you’ve got a limited budget and finite resources, you can’t – and shouldn’t – do everything. You have to prioritise and know what works in some sort of priority order.

Which is why, if the GSI research indicates social plays little part in direct sales – although it probably plays some – is the reason we all need to know.

I’ll be interested in your thoughts when you’ve read the source material.

And thanks to you too for your time taking part in this conversation 🙂

It’s a fair question but I guess there’s not a lot I can add now. My point is that consumers are using social media for lifestyle and entertainment reasons before they think about buying products and there are countless studies that indicate that. But yes I understand that some organisations don’t see any advantage in establish a conversation with followers when by the end of the day they will be measured by results.
I am going to read the source when published by GSI. Thanks for this conversation and insights.
Maria