Top Product Discovery Platforms (2024)
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 in 2024: table
|
Source of brand discovery |
Percentage of internet users who say they use the following platform to discover new products |
|
1. Search engines |
32.8% |
|
2. TV ads |
32.3% |
|
3. Word-of-mouth |
29.2% |
|
4. Social media ads |
28.9% |
|
5. Brand websites |
25.4% |
|
6. TV shows and films |
24.0% |
|
7. In-store promos |
22.7% |
|
8. Ads on websites |
22.5% |
|
9. Retail websites |
22.5% |
|
10. Social media comments |
22.5% |
What are the top product discovery platforms in 2024?
At the top of these platforms are search engines. Close to one in three (32.8%) 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 32.3%. This list shows that personal interactions are an important part of consumers’ product discovery process. Word-of-mouth recommendations are the third-most popular platform, with 29.2% of internet users worldwide saying it’s how they find out about new brands and products.
Social media ads follow, with 28.9%. With 5.17 billion people on social media in 2024 (and growing), it’s no wonder many consumers’ product discovery process involves social media.
After social media ads, the fifth-most popular product discovery platform is brand and product websites—used by just over one-quarter (25.4%) 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 24% of internet users discover new brands and products. In seventh place on the list ranking the most popular product discovery platforms are in-store promotions—22.7% of consumers say they discover new brands and products through them.
Ads on websites, ads on retail sites, and social media comments can also help internet users discover new products—all of which are used by 22.5% of them, respectively.
Of these most popular channels internet users use in their product discovery process, six are fully digital, which highlights the importance of having an online marketing strategy for businesses.