Post date: Oct 15, 2010 1:2:24 PM
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - October 14, 2010) - Eventbrite today released Social Commerce: A First Look at the Numbers, a report which includes the first data and numbers to quantify the monetary value and impact of social media in driving eCommerce.
The promise of social commerce(1) is to channel the speed and connectivity of social networks to drive sales transactions. This takes online commerce to a new level because the hyper-relevancy of the social graph breeds deeper engagement, greater sales and stickier audiences. Because events are inherently social and people want to share their experiences, mainstream social platforms are proving themselves ideal for sharing events, promoting them and selling tickets.
With this report, Eventbrite is tracking a new set of metrics to quantify social commerce success. It illustrates the monetary and promotional value of event attendees sharing the events that they are excited about through social channels. The key findings of this analysis include:
Sharing drives transactions: Over the past 12 weeks on Eventbrite, a share on Facebook equals $2.52 in ticket sales, a share on Twitter equals $0.43, a share on LinkedIn equals $0.90, and a share through Eventbrite's "email friends" application equals $2.34. On an aggregate level across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Eventbrite's email share tool, each share equals $1.78 in ticket sales. This number is showing consistent growth with the most recent 4-week average equaling $1.87.
It's happening across all types of events: Sharing is consistent across event size and vertical. Classes/workshops and networking events have the most share activity, followed by fundraisers, conferences, and music events.
It's intensely sticky: For Eventbrite, Facebook is now the #1 referring site for traffic, surpassing Google. Each Facebook share drives 11 visits back to Eventbrite.com. Averaging across all channels, one share drives over 7 visits back to Eventbrite.com.
"This data illustrates how sharing directly impacts transactions -- which is especially relevant at a time when everyone is trying to monetize Facebook," said Tamara Mendelsohn, Director of Marketing for Eventbrite. "Social commerce proves that social media platforms represent a powerful marketing channel that is tied to real and quantifiable results and we need new metrics to understand and measure success. It's no longer just about reaching more people, but rather about how to inspire people to share the things that they are excited about through social media."
Visit Eventbrite for more information, and look for more reports in the coming months.
Methodology
Eventbrite uses a custom suite of social analytics tools developed in-house. The reporting capabilities enable tracking and analyzing of not only which sharing options Eventbrite users leverage, but where on the site each share action takes place. These tools also tie back into the platform's conversion funnels, so ticket purchases can be attributed to the specific social distribution channel that drove them. For example, Eventbrite can compare not just the value created by a Facebook "Like" vs. a Tweet, but also the performance of shares initiated before or after a purchase.
About Eventbrite
Eventbrite is the world's largest, fastest growing event ticketing company. Eventbrite empowers anyone to host successful live experiences of any type or size by providing an easy way to manage, promote and sell out the event. As the engine for a new generation of live experiences, Eventbrite brings together transactions with social interactions to allow events to live, flourish and gain momentum anywhere online. Eventbrite is privately held and backed by Sequoia Capital. For more information, go to www.eventbrite.com.
(1) For the purposes of this report, Eventbrite defines social commerce as transactions that are driven through sharing on social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and through email sharing via the Eventbrite "email friends" application.