WATCH: Millennials Powering Social Commerce

Brands now have about 76 million reasons to get their social media houses in order.

Millennials - those born from around 1980 to 2000 - are making social commerce a reality, according to a new report from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

The study looked at the social habits of Gen Y and Facebook , Twitter and Pinterest, as they relate to brands and buying. One big find might not actually come as news to some savvy e-commerce marketers: Pinterest is a retail gold mine.

While Facebook is where millennials go to interact with brands online (62% of millennials surveyed said they like at least one brand on Facebook), Pinterest has the highest relative sales conversion rate. 47% of millennials surveyed said that they purchased something online after pinning it.

Pinterest even tops Facebook and Twitter in terms of money spent: the average order value on Pinterest led all social referrals at $150.

This is consistent with a recent survey from Javelin Strategy & Research, which included all age ranges, that showed Pinterest leading with an order value of $123.50, about 126% more than Facebook. A social commerce study last year , again among all age ranges, also showed Pinterest users spending more, at $80.54.

That's why retailers are incorporating Pinterest on their websites and even in their stores . Target even has a separate site powered by Pinterest.

See more about millennials and social commerce in this week's episode of The Content Brief from Freshwire below.

You can check out last week's episode on the value of Facebook advertising right here.