In this day and age where social media is taking over, it is unsurprising that 1 in 10 shoppers’ purchasing decisions are influenced by it. Whilst it is a well-known fact that a tweet or a Facebook “like” doesn’t necessarily equate to a purchase, social media still holds considerable sway in the way shoppers research the gifts and items they are planning to purchase.

We recently conducted a global study, PeopleShop, into the shopping behaviour, attitudes and motivations of 13,000 shoppers. The study revealed that video games (and systems), baby toys and mobile phones are the three categories where social media plays an inflentioal role..  In addition the study also found that 27% of Video game & video game  system shoppers   consider social media to be an influential touchpoint. Read More »

As we reported last week, advertising on Facebook has increased 10-fold in the last year, with brands like Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Nike putting out focused social media ad campaigns which create real customer engagement and significant return on investment.

Even if you haven’t got the marketing budget of a global brand, with nearly half of all small businesses finding customers through social networks it’s important to realise that you can still run an effective Facebook advertising campaign without spending that much money. And if you haven’t picked up on this, your competitors certainly have! Worldwide ad spending on the network for 2010 looks set to hit $1.28 billion.

So why are businesses flocking to advertise through Facebook?

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