Social media advertisement engagement leading to purchases

A study found that with the rise of social commerce, brands can influence target customers at each crucial point of the conversion funnel. Now more than ever, brand marketers must pay attention to consumer engagement, sentiment, and interaction with brand ads and a brand's competitors' ads.

Two-thirds of consumers show purchasing intent signals early in the social commerce funnel with a pre "click" consumer behavior – 65% of consumers reported they engage (like, share, comment) with brand ad campaigns and from those who engage with the ads, a staggering 90% are more likely to make a purchase.

Social media ads are also effective in getting consumers to purchase an item they “had been meaning” to purchase, with more than 60% answering they will click to purchase immediately. While influencers are effective, they are less effective than traditional social media advertisements with just over half of survey respondents (54%) saying they are more likely to make a purchase because of an influencer featured in an ad or sponsored post.

These survey results showcase that brands can affect every point in the conversion funnel for potential customers and shouldn’t measure just clicks as an indicator of social advertising effectiveness. Marketers must measure the top and the middle of the funnel, just like measuring the bottom of the funnel and pay attention to consumer engagement, sentiment, and interaction with the ads and the competitors' ads.

With the rise of social commerce and fierce direct-to-consumer challenger brand competition, there is a clear need to measure and predict social advertising effectiveness and pay attention to the earliest signs of consumer purchase intent at the pre-click level.