A Search And Social Sensitive Subject!

There are some things customers prefer to keep to themselves and other things they feel comfortable to share! Especially with specific items they buy!

Studies looking into social media behaviour reflect the natural but often overlooked differences each consumer might display according to every purchasing decision.

After all, do they want all their circle of friends to know the material and colour of their latest pair of boxer shorts or knickers? Or that they use mouthwash or skin cleansing cream everyday?

There are worse and heart–thumping more embarrassing online buying activities! Yet in the everyday world of eCommerce, the increasing emphasis is on providing a more individual customer-centric experience. It does however mean that site owners and their online marketing team always need to carefully consider the likely outcomes to a personalised search and social purchasing function.

Latest research has found that a decision to make a purchase online can be directly influenced by the presence of the social sharing buttons of Facebook and Twitter displayed next to each product, increasing or decreasing the likelihood of a purchase by as much as twenty five per cent!

It seems that some sites have forgotten that customers are very much aware and concerned about how they will be perceived by their social networks each time they buy a particular type of product online. The integration of social marketing strategies in routine site management should therefore, also reflect the social consequences of user behaviour.

Marketing brain storming sessions might simply overlook the basic fact that potentially embarrassing products unthinkingly placed alongside a site’s embedded social media buttons have less chance of being purchased. Obvious really! Of course, there are always certain purchases – with the right brand identity credentials, for example – that customers would feel totally cool about letting their social circles know!

In just a short time, the pervading presence of individual social media potential has actually become an intrinsic part of going online. Research reveals that simply the mere presence of social media buttons on a website’s product page can cause potential users to feel as if their purchases are being watched by the social networks and, as a result, buying decisions are modified.

It seems that the presence of social symbols like Facebook and Twitter have, like traffic signs, simply become yet another part of the brain’s automatic decision-making process, which may bypass conscious awareness, or barely remembering if the icons had been actually seen.

So when business owners decide to go ‘social’ on their websites, it’s crucial to be aware that ‘product placement’ is both search and social sensitive.

Google may be watching!