Marketing Above the Noise

11 Can Social Sharing Amplify Your Reach?

If you listen to many marketers, you’d think that marketing in the twenty- first century is driven totally by social media. In June 2014, Gallup released a report that noted only 5 percent of more than eighteen thousand U.S. consumers polled said social media had a great deal of influence on their buying decisions. In fact, 62 percent of those surveyed said social media had no influence at all on what they chose to buy.¹

Gallup found this to be true across all age groups—including millennials, “a generation that many companies regard as a key social media audience.” According to Gallup, more than 94 percent of those who use social media do so to connect with friends and families. Only 29 percent use social ...