What’s the role of social networks in the consumer’s buying decisions?

In the past few months, much has been written about the role of social networking sites in creating brand awareness. Businesses, all over the world, have been made to believe that social networks may go a long way in creating demand for their products and services.

I believe that too. At least, if businesses have the right strategy and a clear focus on what the role of social media is in their overall brand and marketing strategy.

However, the statistics recently found by a survey conducted by the Opinion Research Corp. for ARAnet have a different story to tell. Disclaimer: I did not find the statistics on the web sites of one of these companies but on this blog

According to the post, of 14 different sources of information a customer may consider while making a purchase decision, social networks ranked much lower than personal networks (60%), TV broadcasts (40%) and search engines (39%).

If you are thinking that social networks may play a pivotal role as a preferred source of recommendation for products and services with young adults aged 25-34, think again. At least, according to these data.

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Social media monitoring news: Trackur offers free version

Know Trackur? It’s one of many social media monitoring tools. And it’s a paying one. Until now. Trackur just announced that it’s launching a free version on its blog.

The blog entry is short and simple: the company “is delighted” to launch Trackur Free and says it’s doing it to “help everyone monitor their brand/reputation, so now you don’t have an excuse”.

Have to check that out and see what features the free version offers. It will not be for today though. If anyone feels like testing, here’s the link.

Is it the best free social media monitoring tool around or is it a way for Trackur to get more customers?

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