Bain and Company recently reported social media users who engage a business spend to 20 to 40 percent more money with those companies than the average customer.

Businesses implementing social media marketing campaigns have found that the prospects they engage spend 20 to 40 percent more money in their products or services than others, Bain and Company suggested in a report.

Studying major brands, such as Starbucks, JetBlue and Wal-Mart, Bain and Company found that social engagement often served as the impetus for consumers to make purchases. All of these brands adopted social media marketing strategies early on and have successfully adjusted their process campaigns to maximize their visibility in social platforms and ensure that consumers know they can have conversations with these companies through the channel.

According to Bain and Company, businesses with strong social presences have applied the same marketing principles to social media and found great success with the new channel.

“The leaders typically employ the same tried-and-true business principles – refined through traditional marketing, service and operations – applied in new ways,” Bain and Company wrote in its report. “While they often experiment and sometimes fail, they don’t allow themselves to fall into the trap of thinking that somehow ‘everything has changed’ in this new world.”

Social media not only boosts online conversions but increases in-store traffic as well, Brafton reported. Engaging prospects with comprehensive social marketing campaigns has been shown to improve visibility and accessibility.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.