Put yourself in my shoes for just a moment. You are in the market to buy a new smartphone for your Sprint wireless service, but you don’t have a clue what are the latest “must-have” features that are included in today’s phones. You are at your computer and ready to start your research. You have two options for finding the info that will help you make the right choice for a phone that’s right for you. Where online would you look to learn more about what smartphones Sprint has to offer? Would you visit the Sprint company website or would you start with the Sprint Facebook page?
Before the introduction of Facebook, we had been trained for years that the easiest way to find info about a product is to type in a company’s name followed by a “.com” which would hopefully lead us to the correct company website. But now, are we spending so much of our time already in the Facebook social environment that it is easier to type the company’s name in the Facebook search space to then be lead to a page displaying products and services along with consumer commentary?
Reports tells us that a majority of Americans (58%) begin their purchasing experience by doing online research to compare prices, quality and the product reviews from other consumers. Experts predict that by 2015, the number of Americans researching for and purchasing products online is expected to surpass 200 million and 90% of the population’s internet users. So when you go online to look for that new phone, new car, new tablet or even dinner later tonight, will you be visiting the company’s website or finding their presence on Facebook? It’s time for you to chime in! Let me hear from you.
Views from Six-Foot-Four 