23 January 2019
Social Media Campaigns Most Likely To Be Shared by Brand Lovers
The success of social media campaigns depends largely on consumers passing on the ads within their online social networks, but which people are most likely to do so? A study in the Journal of Business Research examined consumers’ pass-on behavior of social media campaigns and shows that brand lovers are crucial for success.
Take aways
- People are more likely to pass on advertising campaigns in their online social network when they like the advertised brand, the campaign itself, and viral advertising in general.
- People are also more likely to pass on adverting campaigns when they receive the campaign from a close friend, compared to when they come across it through banners.
- Since social media advertising campaigns are most likely to be passed on by those who already like the brand, marketers should target their ‘brand lovers’ and stimulate them to spread the campaign in their network.
Study information
Who?
8,510 participants (mean age: 26, 70% female). All participants were members of the former Dutch social networking site Hyves.
Where?
The Netherlands
How?
The study focused on three real-life social media advertising campaigns for international brands: Lay’s, Telfort and Sony Ericson. Members who visited the website of one of the three campaigns received an invitation to fill out an online questionnaire.
Facts and findings
- The majority (60%) of the participants came across the campaign by clicking on the banner, followed by 27% who indicated that they had received the advertising campaign from a friend, and 13% who did not remember how they came across the campaign.
- 26% of the participants forwarded the advertising campaign to others within their online social network.
- The more positive participants were about the brand, the advertising campaign itself, or viral advertising in general, the more often they forwarded the campaign to others.
- Those who received the Lay’s or Telfort campaign from a friend more often passed it on than those who came across the campaign by clicking the banner. For the Sony Ericson campaign, this was only the case for close friends, and not for acquaintances.