By Nicolo Galante and Dennis Spillecke

Buying something is not just a destination; it is a journey of many steps.

Consumers consider a set of brands; evaluate them; and then select one at the moment of purchase. After purchase, the journey continues, as the buyer forms an opinion that then can trigger a repeat purchase—or rejection—and can ultimately turn into active advocacy or negative feedback vs other shoppers. McKinsey calls this process the Consumer Decision Journey.

At every step along the way, social media can and does influence the journey—logs for opinions; Facebook and LinkedIn for recommendations; YouTube for product demonstrations; Twitter and Angie’s List for bragging (or ranting). It’s interesting, for example, that when one diaper maker suggested a list of desirable attributes to consumers, they ranked environmental friendliness first. When consumers talked among themselves online, though, it came in last. McKinsey’s joint venture partner, Nielsen’s NM Incite, has shown that buzz isn’t just noise; it translates into purchase intent: Consumers overwhelmingly (70%trust online comments from other consumers.

For companies, then, the key is to listen to what is being said in order to glean immediate and real consumer insights and to purposefully engage with consumers in order to transform them into marketing partners for the company brands. Such engagement via social media can help companies in a variety of ways.

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