Social Media Doesn't Really Help With Buying Decisions

Despite every company trying to put their ads on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and elsewhere, a

says that social media has pretty much no influence on your buying habits. The report was put together by Forrester Research and GSI Commerce

, looked at data from online retailers between November 12 and December 20, 2010. The study shows that less than 2% of purchases came from a social network. Email and search were most effective in turning in buys. “The best analogy is in the South, a lot of people go to church on Sunday,” says Fiona Dias, executive vice president of strategy and marketing for GSI Commerce. “If you go with the theory that you should market where the people are, then you should be running off to market during church services. Facebook has the same analogy. Buying things from retailers is maybe 10th on the list of things they want to do on Facebook.”