Facebook tops new marketing study

Facebook is the social networking website of choice for marketers, according to a new study by internet research group eMarketer.

Friday, 30 October 2009

The report, dubbed Social Commerce on Facebook, Twitter and Retail Sites, indicates that 57 per cent of companies in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide have a presence on the portal.

Meanwhile, nearly 75 per cent of these firms utilise at least one of the major social networking sites or social shopping sites to advertise or make their brand known.

Interactive features providing brands with the chance to communicate directly with fans are one of the reasons why Facebook is so popular with marketers, eMarketer states.

Jeffrey Grau, ecommerce senior analyst at the market research organisation and author of the report, said: "Retailers need to place their virtual storefronts where their customers congregate."

Ecommerce is moving from "a transactional experience to a social one", he added.

Back in July, eMarketer forecast that US marketers will increase their ad spend on social networks in the coming years, with predicted rises of 13.2 and 8.2 per cent in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at the company and author of the report Social Network Ad Spending: A Brighter Outlook Next Year, said that more organisations will start focusing on implementing overall social marketing strategies.

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