Market researchers Gartner have published a new study which shows that social networks influence the purchasing decisions of the majority of today’s consumers.
The survey, which took place in the last quarter of 2009, studied 4,000 people in ten different markets and focused on the different roles played by users when it comes to influencing buying decisions.
According to Gartner, which identifies six different categories of user in the social networking sphere, social media marketing would be more effective if it targeted those types of users who had the biggest influence on other users.
Of the six, the three most influential – ‘Salesmen’, ‘Connectors’ and ‘Mavens’ – only make up 20% of the social networking community but influence 74% of its population. These three categories mimic their counterparts in the offline world: Salesmen persuade, Connectors bridge different social groups and Mavens are experts on particular subjects. The other three categories – ‘Seekers’, ‘Self-sufficient’ and ‘Unclassified’ – hold the majority of the purchasing power, but little influence.
While this division isn’t new, it does reinforce the need for targeted social media marketing. The study also concludes that social media like Facebook and Twitter are currently being underused as a means of creating creating brand awareness and conducting market research.
