This survey of 111 mothers found that social media is becoming a more important channel for brand discovery and influence. Specifically: - Following brands on social media increased 17% since 2018, with 47% of respondents now doing so. - Discovering new products directly through a brand's social media increased 13% to 25%, on par with magazines/newspapers. - 25% of respondents said they are more likely to purchase a product if an influencer posts about it, 4% more than magazines. - Brands that keep their social feeds lively, entertaining, informative and human can positively impact purchases.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA AND INFLUENCE.
VISTA PR MUM SURVEY 2020

2. 111 mums, local and not, from many different walks of life supported us this year, answering our poll on social media and influence.
Those who have supported us over the years, will be getting quite familiar with the questions. It’s the third year that we have asked identical questions.
This study is small. Largely can only be taken as anecdotal. But, doing this, we have been able to gather real insight into movement and changes in
behaviour that are not only incredibly valuable to our little business, but also interesting when set against global trends and predictions. This document
shows the results from 2018-to-2020 in graph form. Highlights on each page and key summary at the end.
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA IS STEADYING
We know that social media has effected and is shaping our lives. But we can see small changes that indicate people taking a more measured view and
feeling more in control of their platforms. We saw an 8% drop in the number of people who think they spend too much time on social media, a 10% drop
in those who enjoy sharing personal experiences on social media a 6% drop in those who are left feeling a bit rubbish by other people’s lives and a 13%
drop in people afraid to voice their own opinion. 6% fewer mums now see social media as a lifeline.
RISE OF THE GRAM
Industry leaders predicted that Instagram will grow in favour. We have seen a 5% increase in adoption since 2018. So no headline news on that from us,
other than to note in the same timeframe, Facebook has seen only a tiny 1% decline and all other platforms have seen a healthy increase in adoption,
most notable Snapchat with 7% and Linked In with 13%.
INFLUENCE
Our poll shows a clear move towards accepting recommendations from other people on social media, who are not your friend. When asked why
people follow influencers, the lead reply for 2020, with just under half (49%) of all respondents agreeing, ‘I can relate to them’. Across the board,
‘celebrity’ garnered limited responses.
OUR OPINION
We’re excited by these latest findings. Some of them quite stark when plotted into the graphs to follow. The tide is changing rapidly. Social media is now
a highly influential channel to market for brands, especially for those brands not representing themselves at the point of sale. This is a channel where a
purchase can be directly affected. Brands that are not on social, and are not engaging, entertaining, using a stand-out human voice, are quite simply
handing an advantage to their competitors.
INTRODUCTION

3. BRAND INTERACTION

4. WHAT DO YOU USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR?
KEY TAKEOUT:
• Following brands has seen a 17% increase since 2018. Now, 47% of our
respondents follow brands and businesses on social media.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2018 2019 2020
‘OTHER’
WhatsApp and Facebook messenger
to arrange Toddler group each week,
to keep up with our dance class
videos and for arranging NCT events
as well as conversations with my
friends
Selling second hand items through
Facebook
Find out what’s going in local area
Watch funny films and memes
Shopping
+17%

5. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest Snapchat Linked In I don't
WHICH BRAND OWNED SOCIAL SITES DO YOU USE
TO RESEARCH AND INTERACT?
2018 2019 2020
KEY TAKEOUT
• 47% of respondents now using Instagram to research and interact with brands (a 15%
increase since 2018) and only 2% more research and interact using Facebook (49%).
• 30% of mums say they do not use social media to interact. However, this answer shows a
measurable 10% drop since 2018.
+15%

6. HOW DO YOU DISCOVER NEW PRODUCTS AND BRANDS?
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
2018 2019 2020
+13%-5%
KEY TAKEOUT:
• Discovering new products
through print media has shown a
5% decline and is now pretty
much level with ‘watching
parent influencers’ at 25% and
23% respectively.
• Discovering directly through a
brand’s social media has seen a
13% increase since 2018. Now, a
quarter of our respondents find
out about new products by
watching brands on social
media. This now puts a brand’s
owned social media site as
influential in finding out about
new products, on a par with
reading magazines and
newspapers.
• Seeing an advert pop up with a
social media feed maintains
strong with 52%.

7. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Have you
been drawn to
a brand
because of its
social
presence?
Are you more
likely to buy
from a brand if
it has lots of
likes and
positive
comments?
Are you more
likely to buy
from a brand if
it has a fun,
entertaining or
informative
newsfeed?
Are you more
likely to buy
from a brand if
it runs lots of
competitions?
Are you more
likely to buy
from a brand
that has a
human voice?
Are you more
likely to buy
from a brand if
it engages and
interacts with
followers?
Are you put off
buying from a
brand if it
doesn't have
an active
social
presence?
Have you
followed a
brand
because it
offered a
chance to win
products?
2018 Yes / I might do in future 2019 Yes / I might do in future 2020 Yes / I might do in future
2018 No 2019 No 2020 No
HOW BRAND SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR INFLUENCES PURCHASE
YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
+11%
+10%
+5%

8. INFLUENCING PURCHASE

9. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
I AM MORE LIKELY TO BUY SOMETHING IF…
2018 2019 2020
KEY TAKEOUT
• Friends and family are always a key influence with 91% of the vote.
• Allowing open customer reviews is key to sales achieving 67% of responses.
• Allowing your product to be pitted against others, if it is received more favourable this is a strong influence
• Ads online and on TV have a low response, with only 11% influencing purchase, however ‘reading a blogger
review’ lifted 4% to 24% and is now more influential than seeing a product in a magazine (21%). A quarter of
respondents said they are influenced to buy after seeing an influencer post.
• Influencers and bloggers are now pretty much level with magazines in terms of discovery and influencing
purchase.
NB. We did not distinguish between a
‘blogger review’ and ‘influencer post’ in the
question. Where we know most influencers
will now provide a ‘review’ in their grid, we
are committed to asking the questions in the
same way year on year and the roles of
‘Instagram influencer’ and ‘website blogger’
were less blurred in 2018. Our caveat here
would be that when reading the question,
mums will have differentiated between the
terminology ‘review’ and ‘post’.

10. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Yes No I have been
tempted, I might
do in future
I haven't bought,
but I have
researched it as a
result
2018 2019 2020
KEY TAKEOUT
• We saw a 68% positive response to influencer recommendations
• 13% increase since 2018 for those mums tempted by an influencer to do further research
into a product.
HAVE YOU BOUGHT SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU SAW
AN INFLUENCER RECOMMEND IT?

11. KEY POINTS TO TAKE AWAY
Since 2018, respondents are more willing
to engage with brands on social media
(+17%), Instagram is largely responsible
for this growth.
10% of consumers admit to being drawn
towards a brand because of its social
media feed.
NB. 42% of social media users, use it as their primary
method of researching brands, products & services;
49% have bought through social media
[Source: Global Web Index]
Discovering new products directly from
a brand’s social media feed has seen a
13% increase since 2018 to 25%. A
brand feed is now on a par with
magazines and newspapers.
Print media influence on purchase
shows an improving trend (+4% to 21%)
since 2018.
However, 25% of mums are now more
likely to purchase a product if an
influencer posts about it. That’s 4% more
than those reading about it in a
magazine.
Keep a brand feed lively, entertaining, informative and human to affect purchase.
• 10% increase in mums who are drawn to a brand because of its social presence
• 11% increase in those more likely to buy from a brand if it has a fun, entertaining or informative newsfeed
• 82% of respondents are more likely to buy from a brand if it has lots of ‘likes’ and positive comments; 76% if it
engages and interacts with followers; 75% if it has a human voice
• 28% of mums are put off buying from a brand if it does not have an active social presence
• 68% say they are not put off purchasing if a brand isn’t active on social media, a 5% drop since 2018, demonstrating
a shifting tide in judgement and a clear advantage if brands are on social and active.
SOCIAL BRANDS DISCOVERY & INFLUENCE
BRAND BEHAVIOUR
The study:
Vista’s anonymour research was carried out using Survey Monkey with mums from various demographics and geographic locations.
Jan 2018, 73 respondents
Jan 2019, 81 respondents
Jan 2020, 111 respondents