Purchasing funnel. Buying cycle. Path to purchase. Over the years, the desire for marketers to label and map the exact nature of the online buying process has uncovered the complexities of the journey and the growing number of resources buyers rely on as they move to make informed purchasing decisions.

Research from GroupM Search and comScore highlights the increased use of yet another resource consumers are turning to in combination with their tried-and-true search engine usage: social media.

Marketers still skeptical of the overall influence of social media on online purchasing habits have reason to rethink that skepticism. In fact, buyers who purchase or convert online are almost as likely to use a combination of search and social resources (48%) as they are to use just search (51%) along the path to purchase.

Furthermore, when consumers were exposed to both brand-specific search results and social media, search clickthrough rates increased by 94%, indicating the investment in social media can help marketers to better influence consumers during their purchasing process and boost search performance.

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