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Twitter And Facebook: Do You Feel Good Enough To Make A Purchase?

TwitterBird-AB2Twitter wants feedback on how to improve the site. The company is running a five- to-10-minute multi-question survey to determine user satisfaction. It not only wants to know if and why you would recommend Twitter to a friend, family member or colleague, but also the primary motivation for using the site, and how its ad platforms -- Promoted Trends, Promoted Accounts, Promoted Tweets -- compare with others.

Does Twitter delight you? Does Twitter feel human? the survey asks. An interesting conversation with Amy Shea, Brand Keys' EVP, global director of brand development, brought up this concept of brands trying to act human on social sites. Finding human connection means bringing together technology and products to make that connection, which can lead consumers to jump from Twitter, Facebook and other social sites to make a purchase.

With so much talk about attribution, it seems that social networks continue to vie for credit that leads consumers to make a purchase. A study from ExactTarget suggests that 32% of U.K.-based online consumers would be more likely to buy from a company after following it on the social network. Compare this with 24% who would more likely buy after clicking the "like" button on a Facebook brand's page, and 21% who admit to signing up and responding to email marketing, or even from pin to purchase on Pinterest.

When it comes to Facebook, brands don't seem to view the ad offering -- Sponsored Stories -- as a tool to connect with consumers. While some advertisers and marketers might consider the offer a connection, because the messages in the ad directly reflect consumer sentiment, a survey from Social Fresh estimates that only 55% of Facebook advertisers use the tool. 

All Facebook points to The 2012 Facebook Ads Report, where 347 Facebook advertisers admit that return on investment and analytics are the biggest challenges on Facebook. With Twitter's self-serve ad platform for small and mid-size businesses just kicking off, I'm sure it's a problem the site would like to do without.

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