Please Don't Disturb! Consumers Not Ready for Personalized Recommendations on Social Networks
Evan Schuman from Storefrontbacktalk.com recently challenged one of the key findings of the 2009 ChoiceStream Personalization Survey. In his article, Social Media E-Commerce: Just Because It Can't Be Measured Doesn't Mean It Doesn't Exist, Schuman takes issue with our conclusion that while m-commerce appears to be a hot spot for product recommendations in 2010, social networking is not. That conclusion was based on the fact that only 8.5% of our survey respondents who belong to a social networking site reported that they had ever made a purchase while on the site. And, only 27 percent indicated any interest in product recommendations from trusted retailers.
Schuman contends that we missed the point because social networking sites were never designed to be e-commerce sites. They're places where friends discuss their lives, work, hobbies and, in the process, end up influencing each other's shopping decisions that take place outside of the network. He claims that just because shoppers aren't physically clicking 'buy it' from within a social network, retailers shouldn't ignore social networks as a place to have a presence.
We actually couldn't agree more that the interactions shoppers have with each other on social networks influence their shopping behavior and purchases. What the survey indicated is that retailers need to think long and hard about the kinds of investments they're making in social network advertisements and product recommendations, specifically. The numbers showed that while some people do happen to make a purchase while engaging in social networks, most are not ready for retailers to push product recommendations at them.
That's not to say a purchase isn't influenced by the things they are seeing from friends, fan sites and brand engagement campaigns. It simply means they don't want retailers bombarding their pages with links and ads, as is pointed out in the story. Thus, it remains our advice to retailers that they not invest in this type of direct-response marketing initiative right now, allowing consumers to engage with the brand on their own terms. For 2010, personalized recommendations and promotions are better suited where consumers are actually looking for them — online and mobile.
What are your thoughts? Would love to hear from retailers how they're leveraging social networks. How is your social networking strategy playing out?
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