Social media is still a relatively young acquisition channel – some merchants swear by it, while others prefer more traditional means such as circulars or television ads. Yet a new report published by RJMetrics suggests there may at least some merit to using sites such as Facebook to win over new customers.

According to the data, a consumer acquired through Facebook advertising spends 30 percent more at that merchant over his or her lifetime than one gained through Groupon. They also spend 8 percent more than a consumer acquired via an advertisement placed on search engines such as Google.

The report, however, did not note conversion metrics, so while a customer acquired through Facebook may spend more than one referred by Groupon or Google, the boost in ROI may not cover the difference in conversion rates. When merchants are planning their marketing initiatives, they need to take that into account to avoid budgeting issues.

Facebook frequently unrolls new ways for brands to engage consumers, which may further improve conversion rates for merchants in the future. Most recently, the social site announced Promoted Posts.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Thursday, June 14th, 2012 at 10:34 am .