UK Businesses Experience a Return on Investment from Social Media Marketing

“Social networks continue to grow in dominance and for the first time ever, social media has become the single biggest activity online in the UK, overtaking the entertainment category” according to Experian Hitwise’s UK Online Media Round Up, March 2011.

As social media marketing continues to evolve, companies are experiencing substantial financial rewards for their efforts.  One such example is the UK’s largest online fashion and beauty store, ASOS  who have a following of over 500,000 Facebook fans and almost 100,000 twitter  followers.

ASOS reported sales of over £100 million in the three months leading to 31 December 2010, a 59% increase on their second quarter.  This was bolstered by a 269% rise in US sales on a dedicated site launched in October 2010. 

ASOS outlined in their 2010 annual report that they “...continue to drive [their] presence online through social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter and [their] own ASOS Life”.  This saw the fashion giant combine e-commerce and social media marketing activity by launching a ‘social commerce’ shop within a new Facebook app in January.  This creates a whole new online shopping experience which allows customers to browse and buy products without leaving Facebook.  This should see sales rise even further for the company this year as they continue their international expansion.

Dominos Pizza is another well known company who experienced a 19.3% increase in sales in 2010, compared with 2009.  They also attributed this success to social media marketing and the launch of their new iPhone application.

For more information on how to grow your business using social media or e-commerce contact us on info@thewebbureau.com