Social and search integration will deliver ROI

Social media commerce is a huge barrier to utilising social as a paid communications channel for many SMEs that rely on ROI through sales or conversions. Solutions evolve as platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google all appear to adapt their media products with “Buy Buttons”.

These “products” haven’t yet become mainstream; however, now YouTube has created a “Click to Shop Button” for its TrueView ads, with impressive results, Google is diversifying its product range for direct response advertising, which may well become increasingly accessible to all. Whilst Twitter and Google have partnered to display Tweets in mobile search results, I see potential for new converged advertising formats that display “Buy Buttons” against Tweets in Google search, which is where consumers may be more likely to spend if, for example, they are Googling a holiday, or a new appliance, rather than searching on Twitter.

Our understanding of paths-to-purchase is what success hinges on. Marketing and advertising should be mapped to consumer mindsets and behaviour, and if we can test, adapt and integrate campaigns based on how people use social and search then we may well find the ROI we are looking for; especially if we can influence the media owners along the way.