Familiarity Breeds Persuasion: Report Says Personal Recommendation Most Trusted Advertising Online
It is something we all intuitively knew, but now we have numbers as proof. What am I talking about?
Let’s go a little tangential and talk about social media in general. There are folks who say that social media actually precedes the Internet. I am a member of the tribe that breeds such a thought. And I guess it is pretty evident why we think so, being social is in our nature, neo web tools just gave a platform to expound this further.
So it is no surprise therefore that a Nielsen survey found personal recommendations by friends the best form of advertising online. The survey covered around 25,000 Internet users from 50 countries including 500 respondents in India. And it found that 93% of the people from this bunch felt recommendations or advocacy by personal acquaintances as the most trusted advertising. (source)
Surprisingly for me, editorial content like newspaper followed them immediately which is surprising because I thought most of them knew the blind eye that the fourth estate presents to a lot of stuff. Anyway that is a personal opinion. However, it bears well for web content though because, print editorials are their predecessors. Brand websites for instance are also on the higher side of the results with 78%.
The other interesting aspect for online advertising is the miserable (relatively) appeal that search ads, banners, text ads, and text ads on mobiles held. All of them pooled 50% or less than that in terms of trust.
What does this mean for social media and what does this mean for digital advertising in general?
On one hand it only adds more weight to the notion of social media being the future on the web. It also asks digital marketers to tailor any approach on the web using to the tune of social media and content editorial. On the other hand it calls for innovation in how advertising happens on the web through smaller real estates like banners and ad copies. Creative renaissance if you may.
And the best step towards that direction is to throw away the pressure one puts on such tools. Let it be known that an ad banner itself can never sell, it is not akin to a TV advertisement and therefore not an end to promotion on the web. On the other hand, it should be judiciously used to drive attention to more persuasive elements that drive trust and therefore engagement and finally conversions for a brand. The banner should be act as a milestone and not the destination itself.
Barring such attempts I doubt how digital advertising in its most rudimentary form can gain more trust as a promotional tool.
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Hi
I think in online media ad format needs to be changed. Pixel based ad format will not work in India. Consumer needs more information rather than information that is displayed in 250 X 250 pixels (In cases ads are shown in less than 250 X 250).
Some good brands are still not using extensively online media in India for advertisements. There is a general feeling that offline sales can’t be genearated through online advertisements.
My online venture revolves around these two issues.
Thanks,
Rajeev