Social Influence Marketing: The New Way to Win Customers
ZenithOptimedia research (covered in MediaPost, RetailWire and AdvertisingAge) shows that recommendations by friends and family (WOM=word-of-mouth) have the greatest influence on brand choice and purchasing decisions (with a score of 8), more than any marketing contact, including TV ads (69), Internet searches (67), magazine ads (60), newspaper ads (55), outdoor ads (45), radio ads (42) and online banner ads (41).
The question, of course, is how do you get friends and family to recommend your product or your store? How do you make WOM scalable? How can you leverage its power? How can you manage the process instead of just hoping for it?
One idea that's quick taking hold - targeting influential product
reviewers, bloggers and social shoppers. According to Jupiter (as covered by eMarketer), online social network users are three times more likely to trust their
peers’ opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions. Social shopping sites in particular "attempt to replicate the emotional and
social aspects of real-world shopping" in order to make people feel that they're part of a community where they can get recognition from their peers.
But before you jump to conclusions, you need to consider another study which shows that the popularity of online influencers, such as popular bloggers and other social media stars, doesn't always equate to credibility. This study, by Pollara (covered by eMarketer and OnlineMediaDaily), showed that while almost 80% of Canadian adults are very or somewhat likely to trust the recommendations of
their loved ones, only 23% said the same of other Internet
influencers.
Despite these numbers, keep in mind that Pollara also found that 59% considered social media sites, such as blogs, social networks, or community forums, very or
somewhat important in learning about products, services, organizations,
and brands, and that 57% of 18-34 year old think social media tools are very or somewhat important for sharing
their thoughts on products, services, organizations, and brands.
A Multichannel Merchant article on this subject provides a few specific ideas on how "marketers can employ social media as part of the entire lifecycle of a marketing campaign—and beyond":
- Become your customer (participate honestly in online conversations on an ongoing basis)
- Aggregate information for the consumer (even if it is negative, you win over the long term)
- Articulate product benefits better (create happier customers who'll do the marketing for you)
- Create multiple, authentic voices (empower employees to serve as brand ambassadors)
- Amplify favorite business stories (direct consumers to those who are already your fans)
- Let consumers shape and share the experience (allow them to extend the brand)
- Go where your customers go (provide them with the messages directly on social sites)
- Don't do it all at once (focus on strong ideas using the most appropriate channels)
Posted by Universal Ad
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