Social media: The fans win

There has long been speculation and gut instinct that social media produced ROI. However despite many promises of being able to track online behavious accurately, there has been few statistics come forward. This has been primarily because of the weak link between online content and point of sale. However, this gap is quickly closing as brands pour more and more budget into digital and expect to see results. A recent study by Syncapse and reported by Haysam Fahmy in the blog Asia Digital Map shows, what all of us had thought true for a long time, people who invest energy in becoming fans of a brand in social media tend to spend more, be more brand loyal and are more likely to be brand amabassadors. Social media does payoff and in a big way.

Fans spend more!

On average a Facebook fan will spend almost US$80 a year more on a product than non-fans

Fans share more!

The most intreguing aspect of social media is converting customers to brand ambassadors. Fans of brand are 40% more likely to share brand information. This is powerful marketing.

The long and the short of this is that brands now have definite proof and measurement tools to show the clear value of social media. What is done with this is yet to be seen. Social media is still largely unknown and only few companies like Prosperity Research have the expertise to navigate social media effectively.