Why Social Media is not Great for Ecommerce

New York City, NY (United States) – December 5, 2014 – Social Media is wonderful for branding and general marketing, but as far as getting actual conversions, the social media channel is severely lacking, according to a survey conducted by BounceExchange.

The survey found that 83% of online marketers believe social media marketing is important for their businesses, but after analyzing over $1 billion U.S. ecommerce transactions, it found that social media marketing efforts only account for about 1.2% of total site conversions.

Among its other findings:
– Social conversion rates are 51% lower than overall websites average rates.
– Few people actually buy anything they hear or read about on Facebook.
– Followers are often engaging in content that is not directly related to the ultimate product.
– Click rates on follow and share buttons are very low and often distract shoppers which cause shopping cart abandonment.

Bounce Exchange also brings up the fact that Facebook has all but killed the organic reach of Page post, though according to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook “still overall a very good, organic and free way to reach and communicate with your customers.”

If visitors to social media pages are not buying anything they hear or read about on Facebook, Twitter et al, these consumers use established channels and websites, such as search, online shops and trusted directories. These traditional websites have much higher conversion rates with lower entry costs. Online and digital marketers might decide to reduce further spending ad dollars on Social and spend more time and money on being found on normal websites.

Currently, all major social media platform are testing “buy buttons” to increase social conversions; it might help but as well could end up doing little to compete with other channels overall. Visitors to Facebook pages or reading Twitter tweets aren’t typically looking to shop, they’re looking for content to consume. It’s not like search, online shops or directories where they’re seeking out services and products, often with a booking or buy intention.

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