A new survey commissioned by Twitter from Datalogix has provided the first ever piece of hard evidence that Twitter engagement can boost sales. The results show a connection between the frequency of tweets and purchases, and suggest that promoted tweets increase the likelihood of purchases being made.
As well as supporting Twitter’s case for its value to businesses, the numbers in the survey data provide a useful metric against which small businesses can budget for this kind of social media marketing. They can also help a business to confirm when it is getting its Twitter marketing right, as returns that suggest follower response is below average can sound the alarm on unsuccessful tweeting.
Looking at the methodology suggests that the proportion of Twitter followers who actually make purchases inspired by tweets is likely to be slightly lower than in these results. The survey was conducted using panels of people who actively responded to a request for participation, so it is likely to be biased towards people who actively engage with what they see online – people who never pay attention to online invitations or requests would effectively be excluded from the group before the survey began. Although it is difficult for researchers to get around this problem, it does mean that a degree of caution should be applied to the results.
Datalogix works using surveys groups that users can opt out of, and it is difficult to tell how this might affect the demographics. The limited data set means that marketers still cannot tell which demographics are most likely to make tweet-based purchases – in other words, there is no useful information on whether it is best to target younger or older people, men or women. Furthermore, because the survey is using aggregated data across a range of product types, it might be that one product does really well on Twitter conversions while another scores hardly any. Promoters will still have to use their instincts or extrapolate from wider studies of social media to work out the approach that is likely to be most useful to them.
What the survey does show is a definite relationship between the amount of business tweets a Twitter user sees and the likelihood of them making a purchase from that business. While it is still advisable not to tweet too often and risk putting people off, this emphasizes the importance of regular engagement. For advice on how to get the balance right, call Xcellimark at 888-318-3950 ext 211 to speak with an internet marketing consultant today.