The holidays are a busy time, for retailers as well as consumers. With Christmas and Hanukkah just around the corner, retailers are putting up those sales and enticing consumers with special offers, seasonal discounts etc.

While the excitement hasn't diminished over the years, what has changed is how products are promoted. The influence of the internet, especially social media, on consumers' purchasing behavior makes it imperative for brands to focus more on this medium, and make it an integral part of their marketing arsenal; [...]

Quite often, despite investing considerable time and effort toward developing their digital marketing strategies, marketers find their brand channels resembling social media ghost towns or campaigns not quite having the desired impact. Research suggests that the perception gap between what consumers want and what marketers think they want is among the common reasons for this.

To understand exactly how wide this perception gap is, Thismoment found some interesting studies:

• While 76% marketers feel they know what their consumers want, only 34% have actually asked them (Pivot). [...]