G/O Digital Study: Facebook Drives Shoppers to Act Online & Offline

Facebook’s value to marketers and consumers continues to increase, as the social network becomes a major influencer in driving online and offline actions from users. Nowadays, the importance of Facebook doesn’t simply lie in garnering likes or gaining new fans; Facebook’s ability to convert digital hunters into loyal in-store buyers easily explains why the platform is a legitimate driver for businesses.

To further reinforce this knowledge, G/O Digital (@godigitalmktg) recently conducted a survey of more than 1,000 Facebook users who had shopped at a local business in the previous year, and found that Facebook’s influence with shoppers has only gotten stronger and stronger.

The study, entitled Harnessing the Power of Facebook for Small Businesses, revealed that discount offers posted on a business’ Facebook page motivates shoppers to click through to the website and book an appointment. In fact, a massive 51% of respondents said that discounts and incentives drive them to view a business’ website, while 54% said the same content would drive them to call a business and book an appointment. [See Figure 1]

Figure 1 (Source: “Harnessing the Power of Facebook for Small Businesses,” G/O Digital)

The study discovered that “consumers are far more motivated to shop offline with a business after seeing content that promises savings, proof of value or visual stimulation.” According to the survey, nearly half (47%) of the respondents would click through to a company’s website within one hour of seeing an offer on Facebook, while one-fourth of them would do so within a day after being exposed to an offer.

Furthermore, the majority of users cite Facebook as the most important social networking site among the social networking sites used by businesses for their marketing (this list includes Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram). Seventy-three percent of them agreed that a local business should maintain a presence on Facebook if it wants to be engaging to users. [See Figure 2]

Figure 2 (Source: “Harnessing the Power of Facebook for Small Businesses,” G/O Digital)

“There are over 1.39 billion monthly active Facebook users – that’s a 13 percent increase year-over-year,” the study states. “With such high adoption rates, it’s no wonder that nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of respondents cited Facebook as the most important social media platform where they expect a local business to have a presence.”

As for what type of targeting content performs best on Facebook, G/O Digital’s study revealed that ads targeted based on user interests are preferred by 34% of respondents, while location-based ads are preferred by 15%; moreover, ads targeted based on past purchases, browsing history, and devices used are preferred by 10% of respondents.

For more information on how Facebook influences consumers’ online and offline actions, you may download G/O Digital’s full study here.

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