2 out of 5 consumers use social media to discover new products and brands

During the pandemic, people have become much more active in interacting with brands on social media. What do they expect from brands?

More than 1,000 adults in the USA who used at least one social network in the first quarter of 2021 took part in a survey. It showed that 65% of Gen Z and 63% of millennials increased their time spent on social media compared to last year. At the same time, about 44% of respondents expect that they will use social networks at about the same level in three years, and 34% of respondents expect that they will even increase the time spent on the networks.

It is important to understand one feature: on the Internet, as in the real world, people are united into certain social groups (social masks), which do not overlap with each other. The main global division occurs according to projects, within which the target audience is divided into informal groups according to interests, age, and other characteristics. Moreover, there can be several social roles: during the day a person needs business communication, in the evening communication with friends and family, on weekends, communication, for example, related to a hobby, etc. Today, a modern person is often registered in several social networks, in which he satisfies different needs and gives different information about himself, and recently many even start several accounts in each social network to be able to “put on” different social masks.

So why did they start using social networks more often? 3 out of 10 adults followed brands on social media last year. The third part of respondents says they use social media to find products, services, or brands. Another 34% learn about new products, services, and brands in them. At the same time, about 43% began to use social networks more often for these purposes.

Shopping in social networks is also gaining popularity: a quarter of respondents use social networks to buy goods. About 68% of respondents agree that social media allows them to interact with brands and companies. 31% of people also say they are using social media more to interact with brands and businesses – compared to previous years. How? Mostly like posts of a brand or company (45%), tracking their activities on social networks (43%), or publishing reviews about their product or service (32%). Others share a brand or company-related content (23%), report problems with products or services (21%), or even correspond with the brand (20%).

At the same time, consumers have certain expectations. About 61% expect businesses to deliver a more personalized social media experience based on previous interactions with them. Approximately the same number of respondents expect companies to read and analyze what they write on social networks, and half of them would even like companies to use this information in further communication.

* The most popular social network in the world is Facebook (the number of active users per month is 2.7 billion). YouTube is in second place (2.3 billion), WhatsApp gets third place (2 billion), even though it is a messenger, not a social network.