Social Media has changed the way consumers make purchase decisions long before entering a retail store. Increasingly, they research both a business and frontline staff as part of the purchase criteria. What we say and don’t say about ourselves online, and the ease in which consumers can locate information, has become a critical part of new customer acquisition.

Social Media Consulting Company - Dan Karasz Consulting holding a Rubix cube of social media icons.

However influencing consumer purchase decisions goes far beyond simply posting customer reviews, product specials, and pictures on our corporate web page and mediums like Facebook. Social media is just that, social.

Cultivating a loyal base of consumers that can be influenced into making purchase decisions, requires a strong relationship building strategy. Increasingly brands are recognizing the value of influencing potential consumers not only during the Consideration stage of the buying cycle, but as early as the Awareness stage.

Our goal is not to manage your social media network, but to analyze your current program and provide your firm with guidance to manage it effectively on your own. Managers need to learn how to both target and influence consumers through effective broadcasting of demographic-specific content that offers true consumer value. How to choose which social media mediums will align with the overall strategy and offer the greatest returns.

They need to learn how to engage and influence consumers emotionally, through more effective broadcasting of things like organizational values and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). The importance of implementing platforms, that enable a business to decisively locate and inject input into existing online discussions and therein target and influence new purchase decisions.

Whether you have a dedicated marketing team or not, the most focused strategies come from collaboration with department managers who comprehend social media and can contribute to their synergy development.

Brands are increasingly recognizing the importance of implementing robust social media mechanisms, and implementing risk management strategies imperative in guarding their reputation.

Social Media Trends to Be Aware Of:

Influencer Strategy
  • Transition to a more organic influencer marketing strategy to connect with new audiences, improve customer engagement, and connect with audiences that ignore traditional social media marketing.
  • Expect to see massive swings in social media strategies to target Generation Z as next generation buyers.
Augmented Reality
  • Mobile applications incorporating picture recognition technology increasingly move from the gaming industry into the business sector. Advances in e-learn modules incorporating some measure of augmented reality improve knowledge capture and retention with employee training.
Messaging Platforms
  • Expect to see brands start to shift from a focus to engage consumers through pure social networks, to a greater use of connection through messaging platforms.
Expansion of Live Streaming
  • Expect to see brands make greater use of live streaming to capture attention. Think GORUCK as a backpack manufacturer, and the creation of live streamed endurance races.