Customers Swayed by Brand Posts But Don’t Follow Through

While 98 percent of consumers encounter products or services on social media, and 78 percent say they're influenced by brand content, only 15 percent actually complete purchases directly on these platforms, Clutch revealed in a new report.

This gap highlights the tension between brand visibility and conversion, prompting marketers to rethink how social media fits into the sales funnel, the firm found.

"Marketers are doing the hard part by earning attention and trust, but there’s still friction at the final step," said Anna Peck, who oversees marketing content at Clutch. "Social platforms are powerful for building brand awareness, but their path to purchase isn't always seamless."

Facebook and YouTube are the most-used platforms, with 73 percent visiting weekly, followed by Instagram (58 percent) and TikTok (39 percent). YouTube leads product research, with 49 percent using it as a visual search engine for tutorials and long-form content.

For direct purchases, consumers most often turn to Facebook (59 percent) and TikTok (53 percent), favoring native shopping features and seamless in-app checkouts, it said.

Clutch also found that consumers respond to authentic content to build trust, but companies need scale to drive purchases.

"Brands see the strongest results when they boost top-performing organic posts or creator content as ads, keeping social proof intact," Peck states. "Organic drives results, but more gradually. Paid delivers faster and at scale once the creative clicks."

To succeed in social commerce, Peck urges companies to go beyond visibility by crafting platform-specific content, reinforcing trust at every stage, and removing friction from discovery to checkout.