Top Product Discovery Platforms
Growing a business requires getting sales, and one of the key steps to achieving that is getting your brand in front of the most eyes possible. To do that, you need to understand your target audience and their product discovery process.
With more and more people shopping online, it should come as no surprise that the top product discovery platforms are dominated by digital sources. Here’s a closer look.
Top 10 product discovery platforms
|
Source of brand discovery |
Percentage of internet users who say they use the following platform to discover new products |
|---|---|
|
1. Search engines |
32.2% |
|
2. TV ads |
31.0% |
|
3. Social media ads |
28.7% |
|
4. Word-of-mouth |
28.1% |
|
5. Brand websites |
25.1% |
|
6. TV shows and films |
23.4% |
|
7. Ads on websites |
22.9% |
|
8. Social media comments |
22.8% |
|
9. Retail websites |
22.2% |
|
10. Consumer review sites, in-store promos |
21.7% |
At the top of these platforms are search engines. Close to one in three (32.2%) internet users worldwide say they use them to discover new brands and/or products and services. With Google dominating the global search engine market share, it definitely is a platform that brands should focus their digital marketing efforts on.
Television ads rank closely behind search engines, with 31%. Social media ads follow, with 28.7%. With 5.17 billion people on social media in 2024 (and growing), it’s no wonder many consumers’ product discovery process involves social media.
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This list shows that personal interactions are an important part of consumers’ product discovery process. Word-of-mouth recommendations are the fourth-most popular platform, with 28.1% of internet users worldwide saying it’s how they find out about new brands and products.
After word-of-mouth recommendations, the fifth-most popular product discovery platform is brand and product websites—used by just over one-quarter (25.1%) of consumers. Aside from running social media ads, having a solid online presence, especially on the most popular social networks, can be an extremely effective way to grow your brand’s reach.
This is followed by television shows and films, through which 23.4% of internet users discover new brands and products. In seventh place on the list ranking the most popular product discovery platforms are ads on websites—22.9% of consumers say they discover new brands and products through them.
Social media comments and retail websites also help internet users discover new products—used by 22.8% and 22.2% of them, respectively. Consumer review sites and in-store promos round out the top 10 product discovery platforms, with 21.7%.
Of these most popular channels internet users use in their product discovery process, seven are fully digital, which highlights the importance of having an online marketing strategy for businesses.