Poll: Social media doesn’t influence purchases. But is that the whole story?

Though a recent Gallup Poll might discourage social media and marketing pros, those stark numbers might not convey the big picture.

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When you buy online, is it because of a tweet, a pin, or a Facebook update?

Maybe no; maybe yes.

Gallup recently shared the results of its new State of the American Consumer report, and it doesn’t look great for social media marketers. Most respondents said social media didn’t have any influence on purchase decisions.

Womp, womp…

The dismal results stand in stark contrast to the more than $5.1 billion companies have spent on social media advertising in 2013, an amount that continues to grow this year.

Don’t pack your bags yet, social media folks. There are things we can learn from it, even if the numbers don’t seem encouraging at first glance:

1. Numbers don’t lie, but they might not tell the right story.

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