It is a question that, empirically, we could answer with a yes. Internet users constantly want to buy something because they have seen it on a friend’s profile or a recognized figure. However, it can also be directly on the page of the company that offers it if it manages to provide engaging content.

Since the “boom” of the Internet in the 90s, the emergence of new information media has become imminent, taking different forms and giving way to what we know as social networks. The fact that Facebook has more than a trillion accounts indicates that people not only want to be found but also to be found, so it is not surprising that marketers venture into the digital world to achieve the positioning of a product.

Imagine this: After a long day at work, you want to relax and hang out on your social networks. There you find all kinds of photos: the cousin with hers before her and after losing weight, your school friend who just got engaged, phrases that motivate you to be a better person, and a product that catches your eye! This is where a large part of the potential social networks have in marketing lies since you are more relaxed in your leisure time. As a result, you see things more carefully, and if you come across something you have been looking for or have loved since you saw it, you will not hesitate to contact that company and make your purchase.

Another aspect to consider is that the current and potential customers can get closer to the brand and learn about the attributes that identify it, which would open the way to a connection that can be translated into loyalty. However, the advantages continue because the profile of a company of products or services can be provided as a catalog of what they offer. Thus, staying in the comfort of our homes, we can choose which gifts to buy, which restaurant to eat, and what movie to see in the cinema.

Comments in this way are also critical since they are usually the most honest and can positively or negatively impact a business. Based on this, we can affirm that the content consumers see on the networks affects what they buy.

According to data from the Gallup Firm, in 2013, in the United States, 5.100 million dollars were invested in advertising on social networks, which shows its growing importance for people in business and potential customers. However, the study also revealed that 62% of the adults interviewed do not consider that networks influence their purchasing decisions, another 30% say that they control in some way, and 5% influence significantly. However, it is essential to highlight the ages of those surveyed since, in the case of millennials (young people born between 1980 and 2000), 52% affirm that the networks do intervene in what they have to buy.

In any case, the most important thing to highlight is that people are more motivated to buy a product that they saw on the networks if an expert made the recommendation or if they see that an acquaintance is using it, which means that the official pages of companies are not the primary influence. That indicated the results of a survey conducted by Market Force, where 80% of those interviewed agreed with that statement.

Because it is relatively recent, the power and influence of social networks are just coming to light since it is the reality that we live in daily, and it is only sometimes analyzed. However, what is certain is that positioning on the web has become one of the priorities of companies and entrepreneurs because they would be forgotten if they did not participate in this sea of global information.