Reviews Rule, Blogs Boogie

A new study by GroupM confirms marketers' sense that customers are behaving differently than they did a few years ago:

• 86% of customers say search engines are important to their buying decisions.
• 58% begin their "buying journey" with online search.
• 45% continue to use search throughout the journey.
• 40% who use search go to social media as the next step in the journey.
• 30% use social media to create a buying "short-list."
• 28% believe social media builds brand awareness.

And what do customers most value?  Reviews and blogs.

"The data suggests the two most important subsets in social are user reviews and category blogs, rather than sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube,” says Chris Copeland, CEO.