Marketing your product in a trusted environment translates into utter success for businesses. No wonder companies rush to populate different social networks in an attempt to dominate the most credible one.
But which channel do marketers themselves trust the most for referrals and product reviews? That would be Facebook , a recent HubSpot poll showed.
During HubSpot’s webinar, Digital Word Of Mouth: Let Your Customers Transform Your Marketing , we asked attendees to list their most trusted source for receiving product recommendations. The majority of respondents, 40 out of the 124 participants, selected Facebook above Yelp, Twitter and advertising. Company website ranked second in this survey, with 37 respondents recognizing the importance of this channel.
What is most interesting about this quick survey is that only six people voted for advertising as a trusted referral source. These results emphasize the ineffectiveness of outbound marketing as a recommendation system. Instead of consuming TV ads in a passive environment, online audiences prefer to interact in a dialectical environment. They would reach out to their contacts for product tips and reviews rather than rely on a corporate brand message.
The fact that Facebook has emerged as the leader in social networks doesn’t erase people’s fear of confidentiality breaches. Many times have online audiences expressed concern about their privacy on Facebook, and marketers need to be careful not to exasperate that fear. Businesses should encourage authentic discussions and celebrate the two-way communication thriving in the new media landscape.
As recent research by research company Vision Critical shows , "consumers trust a brand message when it is discussed or recommended by friends, family or contacts within a social network." According to the study, coupons, product photos and videos also rank high as credible avenues for product placements. Not surprisngly, banner ads are the worst performing in terms of earning the trust of audiences.
This prioritization of interactive referral systems before static, outbound channels gives rise to a new, dynamic culture. It is an environment “where likes matter more than links," as Jenna Wortham of The New York Times noted in a recent article .
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Dale Roberson 4:47 PM on September 15, 2010
Inbound marketing works great when your prospect is already aware of your product. But outbound marketing is still critical for building that awareness. Think about your new restaurant, store or widget. Do you post it on Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, and your company website in hopes that a couple of visitors will find you? Or do you outbound your message on TV, radio, direct mail, etc., to let lots of people know about you? There's still a role for outbound media.
Adam 5:01 PM on September 15, 2010
In my experience, e-mail still outperforms all of these social networks. Opt-in or referral buttons, doesn't matter, it's huge for trust.
Everyone in the tech world seems to have strapped their Facebook and Twitter caps on so tightly the online marketing world has severely underrated the simple e-mail... it blows my mind.
Missing this really important (and profitable) referral source makes the survey rather moot, IMO.
Banner Printers 5:45 PM on September 15, 2010
I'd like to see a further look at this survey...with only 124 respondants it's a small number also with the group being found through a hubspot webinar they may be of a smaller group with their focus already in that direction. That being said Pepsi and Coca-cola didn't play big superbowl ads and put the money into social media instead this year.
Magdalena Georgieva 10:28 PM on September 15, 2010
@Banner Printers: It is true--the survey sample was relatively small and indicates a trend rather than an overwhelming reality. Especially, as you point out, the group of people attending the webinar had specific preferences for social media marketing. They were all actively interested in the evolution of word of mouth.
@Adam: Email is definitely one of the most powerful marketing channels. As in social media, however, it needs to be supported by other types of content and used for smart lead nurturing events. Not sure how the survey would have looked like if we had included email as an option. Will definitely take your feedback into consideration!
@Dale: If you open a new venue, I would say adding it to Google Maps and Yelp is one of the most important steps a marketer could take. When your audience is no longer on the radio, why would you keep investing in radio ads?
Jack 11:56 AM on September 16, 2010
Great post. It's always an interesting debate between old and new media. One thing is very obvious and that is that it's much more cost effective to "self publish" vs. advertise in mass media. However, it takes time to create the reach equivalent of a traditional outbound media campaign. For companies that can't afford mass advertising or see it's effectiveness declining, there may be no better choice than developing a presence in new media channels.
Christine Fife 12:34 PM on September 16, 2010
I read this right after reading Augie Ray's (Forrester) post today: Why Aren't Facebook Ads More Transparent? In his post he looks at CPC ads on Facebook vs. Google Search to illustrate how non-transparent advertising is on Facebook. I equate non-transparency in advertising as "not trusted" so it's interesting to then see this post illustrating that consumers trust FB as a source for recommendations, but the big point is people don't trust the delivery method itself (FB) they trust the recommendation of friends--they just so happen to look to their friends on FB for the recommendation. Too many companies simply look to FB to post ads. They need to start becoming "friends" and engaging with their audience if they really want to see results from their Social Media "marketing" efforts.
Jennifer Melwani 3:07 PM on September 16, 2010
Thanks for an interesting survey - seems to be primarily B2C respondents though. Wondering where LinkedIn comes in - very trusted for B2B particularly in high tech.
I would have to agree with @Dale and @Adam. I have a slightly different perspective, as a B2B marketer. We must use both inbound and outbound. They are not mutually exclusive, both channels are important for driving demand and nurturing leads.
In my opinion, the right mix of investment in inbound vs. outbound varies depending on whether you are selling into an existing category (eg, most people understand what it is you sell and you have branded competitors) or if you are trying to create a category (brand new technology, no equivalent in the market place).
In the second case, you will need to add a higher percentage of outbound to the mix to educate the target audience. If no one is searching for your keywords, then inbound is not always going to work on its own. Usually in B2B outbound is not just advertising and sometimes not advertising at all, but rather list building/list rental to drive outbound email and telemarketing.
Jhonny 1:16 AM on September 18, 2010
Hi...!!
Facebook is really great source for building the social taffic. Great post.
Thank You..!!!
Tena Hartwig 6:05 PM on September 22, 2010
I'm not surprised at all to see that Facebook is one of the most trusted sources. I believe that people trust their friends more than anything, and Facebook just happens to be a platform where most people connect with their friends. We touched on this in a recent blog post for my company, bulbstorm: 5 reasons why fan ideas are the key to social media engagement. http://www.bulbstorm.com/blog/2010/5-reasons-fan-ideas-are-the-key-to-social-media-engagement/