Who Do We Listen to—Peers or Influencers?
“Awareness is fine, but advocacy will take your business to the next level.”
– Joe Tripodi, Chief Marketing Officer of Coca-Cola
When it comes to recommendations, who do you believe more? The personality with thousands of Twitter followers, the review you read the other day, or your neighbors who tried the same product you’re interested in buying? Chances are, you’ll listen to your neighbors because you know them personally and encounter them almost every day. According to Crowdtap’s study on peer influence, “it’s our close network of peers not those with a high influence ‘score’ who we turn to for recommendations for making most common purchasing decisions.” (sic)
Does this mean influencers don’t have that much persuasive power anymore?
Influencers still have clout, especially on fans. People who idolize famous personalities are intrigued with their celebrity endorsements from garments and accessories to food and causes. Those who are rather indifferent form their own opinion and don’t necessarily pick up what celebrities promote. They prefer to ask for reviews from people they know, such as family, friends and acquaintances.
In fact, 92% rely on advice from people they’re familiar with. There’s even a large difference between personal recommendations and online reviews, which stand at 70%. This is because some reviews can be falsified, or solicited by other businesses that want to blackball another company. In addition, product suggestions from people we know are far more persuasive, as they have used the merchandise firsthand.
This makes word of mouth much more effective than an influencer’s promotional posts. Customers who have been satisfied with a product or service become positive supporters of your business.
They spread the good word about your merchandise until their friends tell the same thing to their own acquaintances. This acts like a ‘virus,’ which would make many people find out how good your product is, according to so and so. Consumers looking for high-quality products will now know where to look and come to your store, generating leads for your business. Once you positively interact with the new customers and cultivate a relationship with them, they’ll tell more people about your business. This cycle will continue on and on.
Giving product advice on social media is also indicated as more effective than suggestions given on conversations or phone calls. This is because it is easier to remember recommendations when you see it posted on your account. We think about many things every day and there are some instances when we forget what we talked about with a friend the day before. This explains why online recommendations from our loved ones work more.
Reading about a product online can persuade us to check out more details. It can whet our curiosity, but this does not necessarily push us to buy. We usually look up more articles before we make a decision. If we’re persuaded with enough good reviews, then that’s the time we go to the store and buy the merchandise. This is the same situation we encounter when we see advertisements. We search for more articles or ask for advice from friends on whether we should spend money on that product.
Hearing someone advocate a product, though, will not necessarily drive us to go to the nearest store where we can find it. We may become interested, but we generally ignore the promotion. Fans, more or less, are the ones who believe the endorsement first. This is because we trust the people we know more than those we see online.
Reference:
Word-of-Mouth Picture: UBC Blogs