NYU Stern Center for Measurable Marketing Proves that Social Media Drives More Retail Store Traffic than Traditional Media

Researchers use Crimson Hexagon ForSight Platform to Analyze Impact of Media on Store Traffic for Major Retailer

We’re excited to announce that the New York University Stern School of Business’ Center for Measurable Marketing (CMM) together with Crimson Hexagon, today will reveal important data that demonstrates the ROI of social media for a major retail brand. The full details of this study, which utilized the Crimson Hexagon ForSight™ platform, will be presented by E. Craig Stacey, director of research at CMM and founding partner of The Marketing Productivity Group, during his discussion, ‘Beyond Fans and Tweets: Measuring the Impact of Social Media’, at the Marketing Communication in a Digital World conference in Berkeley, California.

The CMM study revealed a direct correlation between word-of-mouth communication via social media, and increases in-store traffic. Additional findings include:

• Word-of-mouth communication via social media led to higher levels of in-store foot traffic than the brand’s paid media efforts
• Total effects of paid media are under-estimated if one does not consider indirect effects of paid media driving social media, which in turn drives store traffic
• Visits to the store have a feedback effect on social media by driving more conversations about the brand

Read the complete press release here.