I am often asked about Facebook referral and other Social Media referrals and how much of a return on investment clients can expect from a Social Media Optimization campaign.

Ecwid, an e-commerce widget provider, collected data from 180,000 of their online stores and found that the percentage of Facebook referral that resulted in a purchase ranged from 4 to 5 percent during the pre-holiday period of October 30th through mid-November. The actual holiday shopping period of Thanksgiving through Christmas saw the conversion to sales from Facebook referral links average 6 to 7 percent, and even went as high as 8.5 percent on December 6th.

This data was collected from a variety of online stores that are powered by Ecwid, including standalone Web stores, mobile-based stores, and Facebook stores. Ecwid has also been tracking sales growth for Facebook storefronts in the last year and has seen increased sales. This study provides further evidence that social commerce can provide an increase in sales to online merchants.

Bottom Line: As Social Media Campaigns become more sophisticated and allow users to complete purchases through Facebook storefronts, returns on Social Media Optimization will increase for ecommerce sellers. The question that the remainder of Social Media Marketers must ask is whether or not the growth in online purchasing from Facebook signals a continued acceptance of Facebook as a marketing medium as well as an information sharing platform.  In my opinion, it does, and every business should strongly consider Facebook marketing and Social Media Optimization in their marketing plans.

Eric Van Cleave is a Partner in ZenergyWorks, A Santa Rosa, California based SMO, Online Marketing, and Website Development Firm.