STEVENS, PA - A recent study conducted by Unity Marketing reveals that affluent consumers use social media to gather information about brands and products--"a place to look at brands, not to commit to them."
"Expecting to generate sales with a Facebook page is a misunderstanding of how affluents actually use social media," says Pam Danzinger, president of Unity Marketing and author of this new trend report on the luxury market, How the Affluent Luxury Consumer Uses the Internet and Social Media.
"Affluent consumers have flocked to social media, but they use it as one more tool to gather information to make purchase decisions," says Danzinger. "Smart marketers will tap the interactivity of these sites to reach out to affluent consumers, ask for their input, and really listen to what these consumers need in order to decide to make a purchase."
Some of the key findings of the report include:
- 78 percent of affluent consumers have at least one social networking profile, usually on Facebook
- Social media isn't just for the young. Some 70 percent of affluent consumers over age 40 have at least one social media profile.
- About half of affluents have used a social media site to connect with a brand, such as viewing new products or commenting on a brand.
- Only one in four have "friended" a luxury brand.
- Affluents are more likely to use social media to look at brands rather than to commit to a relationship with them
"The findings of our research are clear. Social media is most valuable to luxury marketers as a way to listen to their customers, not about finding another channel through which to sell to them," says Danzinger. "Luxury brands can't afford to be deaf to what customers are saying.
"Building and maintaining a relationship with your affluent customers is critical. Brands need to think of the social networking aspect of their own websites," she explains. "They don't need to have a Facebook page to 'friend' an affluent shopper. Brands can friend their customers through positive and supportive online interaction on the company's primary website."
Unity Marketing's 59-page report on how affluents use the Internet and social media is based on a survey of 1,614 affluent consumers (ag. income $239,300) in the United States.
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