When it comes to marketers that use social media to their advantage, it’s hard to tell which site is faring better – Facebook or Twitter. However, a new report from eMarketer could both be benefitting from a busy holiday season.
For instance, a study by BDO USA indicated that, two years ago, 51 percent of retailers allocated some form of budget to Twitter, compared to the nearly 99 percent on Facebook. However, two years later, only 27 percent of respondents have chosen Twitter’s services, compared to 76 percent using Facebook. But both sites faced some sort of drop.
However, the report also shows that users that did use Twitter to get their holiday shopping festivus in gear actually did so over the entire holiday season, compared to just doing their shopping across Thanksgiving weekend and, more specifically, Black Friday. Although sales for the shopping day were a little lower this year, many companies have benefitted from overall record sales through the season, including Wal-Mart.
Despite the slight drop in interest, many companies were eager to try both sites’ purchasing services, with “buy” buttons activated next to particular products. With their success, conversation rates will pick up, and a return of investment on social media networks could be greatly appreciated.
A report from StatSocial indicated that there were 3.5 million tweets and 838 million impressions on Twitter for Black Friday alone, a new record for a sales season. In addition, 59 percent of comments were made by women, talking about clothing and other items that were available for purchase. As a result, the site managed to win the top social brand for the selling day, even with the majority of companies turning to Facebook. That’s certainly good news, despite the drop in marketing interests.
It’s hard to tell whether both companies will show similar success next year, especially with changing trends and sites like Instagram and Pinterest picking up speed. One thing’s for sure – that won’t stop the people from shopping like crazy over the weekend event.
