How Paid Social Media Ads Pay Off in Conversions
Did you know that 87% of social content interactions occur in the middle of the path to purchase? And that paid ads on Twitter were more than twice as likely as organic tweets to convert users? These are just two of the intriguing results from Q1 2014 research by Convertro and AOL Platforms, which showed how paid ads on social media networks earned much higher conversion rates than organic content. And these findings have quickly gained the interest of digital marketers and may convert more of them toward a paid media model. eMarketer.com posted more from the research to explain the benefit of social ads in conversion rates.
Of course, different social channels delivered different results and some were more geared toward conversion than others. Some of the key findings included:
- On Pinterest, there was a 25% increase in conversions with paid social ads compared to organic social content.
- Facebook saw only a 0.1% rise in conversions through paid ads vs. organic content.
- YouTube was far and away the most likely social media channel to immediately convert a prospect into a customer.
- Social media’s greatest value on the path to purchase lies in its use as a middle touchpoint, with almost nine out of 10 social interactions at a mid-point in the path to purchase.
- Comparatively, just over 10% of social content interactions were the only, or final, touchpoint.
Interestingly, the lag between a social media touchpoint and a conversion was also based on the product being purchased. The research revealed that more-impulsive purchases were more likely to appear as social ads and quickly lead to conversion. The impulsive buys were typically everyday items, convenient local services, and inexpensive subscriptions. Basically, socials media ads for more ordinary products led to extraordinarily fast conversions, making them the only, or final, touchpoint on the path to purchase.
“Social works well as the first or only touch when it’s effectively reminding you to make an impulse purchase you already planned on making at some unspecified point in the future,” explained Jeff Zwelling, CEO and co-founder at Convertro.
With this research yielding such impressive returns on the conversion value of paid social media ads, marketers and brands should be open to converting to a paid media model.
Get the latest updates on social media advertising. Contact MDG today at 561-338-7797 or visit www.mdgsolutions.com.
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