2010: The Year Social Media Died?
Boy, did ForeSee Results leave us with a doozy of a cliffhanger in the 2010 holiday edition of its E-Retail Satisfaction Index.
If it’s findings are right, social media, as a selling tool, is deal. The fail whale is beached. Ecommerce is antisocial. Etc. and so on:
Social Media: Only about 5% of online holiday shoppers report being primarily influenced to visit
top retailer sites by social media channels, yet retailers continue to put vast resources into this type of marketing. Meanwhile, 19% came to the website primarily as a result of a promotional email and 8% as a result of search engine results, suggesting that tried-and-true online marketing tactics should not be abandoned or ignored in favor of newer media.
ForeSee Results says this will be another topic for another day (and of course, another report), and I’m interested in seeing how the questions were worded and what consumers consider to be social media channels. For that matter, was ForeSee talking about Facebook ads (which I can say I rarely, rarely click on) or Tweets and status updates?
Here’s one anecdote: As Facebook was futzing around with its new platform during the holiday season, I wasn’t seeing as much activity in my news feed. Not only did I miss announcements from my friends, but for a few weeks I didn’t get a single message from any of the merchants I chose to Like.
I’m sure I wasn’t alone.
Social media will still have a role in retail. I just don’t think it’s going to be a selling portal. Social media will remain a channel where consumers voice their complaints (and happiness) and merchants listen, react and respond.
