3 Things You May Not Know About Social Shopper Marketing
2. There's a defined generational gap not only in how Canadians research products, but also in the definition of media itself as an influencer. A landmark study was published earlier this year by the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms. The research focused on the dynamics of influence on Canadians’ shopping habits, examining media influences, "circles of trust" and the impact of social media on the buying process. There's a hierarchy of influence in the average consumer's path to purchase, with Twitter as the least influential, followed by Facebook, then blogs and finally a company's website as the "go-to" source of information during the prepurchase phase.
However, all of them are outranked by traditional TV, radio and print editorial content. What was equally revealing was the emphasis younger Canadians place on various tools in the pre-search influence. It was reported that a significant portion of Canadians aged 18-34 view blogs, YouTube, Facebook and company websites as credible sources of news, even more in some cases than traditional media outlets. This suggests the boundaries of credibility between content and opinion, authenticity and credibility, and impact and influence are now and forever blurred as well as viewed differently by different demographics. Social channels are now not only gaining influence over consumers’ purchase decision-making processes, but they're also, in effect, shaping them based on a different platform of authenticity and trust.
3. Retailers are socializing the mobile space better than brands. Shopping apps are on the rise, with downloads doubling since last year. With all of the apps being developed by individual brands who are jumping on the mobile bandwagon, we're starting to see the limitations of what an individual brand can achieve in the shopper marketing space. Many branded apps are great tools — e.g., recipe builders, price comparisons, etc. But there are very few, if any, ways for people to connect with one another through the app to drive next-level purchase intent.
