Social sharing buttons may be “falling to the wayside,” it now appears.
Why?
“Consumers on mobile are 11.5 times more likely to click on an advertisement than a social sharing button, proving that brands cannot rely on users to spread branded posts on social media unless there is a direct call-to-action, according to a report from Moovweb,” reports Luxury Daily.
While social media usage on mobile is extremely high, users tap sharing buttons approximately 33 percent less often that they do on desktop.
The upshot? Brands seeking to raise awareness of their products or services via social share buttons must offer a strong call-to-action to convince consumers to disperse their posts, such as a sweepstakes entry or incentive.
“We analyzed over 61 million mobile sessions and found that only 0.2 percent of mobile users do any social sharing,” said Haresh Kumar, vice president of marketing at Moovweb, based in San Francisco. “Social sharing has evolved, specifically as it pertains to shopping priorities.
“People aren’t using the social sharing buttons on mobile sites,” he said. “This has deep marketing implications, since mobile device traffic is, on average, over 60 percent.
In a nutshell, Moovweb discovered that a meager 0.2 percent of mobile users ever feel compelled to tap on a social sharing button to disperse branded content among family and friends.
But if it’s social media that entices, Moovweb’s research indicated that Facebook had the highest social sharing button engagement out of all social platforms, followed closely by Pinterest.
“Social is likely the channel of influence during discovery and preference phase,” concludes Kumar. “Social is not top of mind when a consumer is in the moment and making a purchase.”