Note: This Guest Post was written by Dan Wolf, Interactive Marketing Supervisor at TrueAction. To connect, chat, discuss, stalk, compliment or challenge his views, you can find him on Twitter: @thescenicdan
My father is truly a creature of habit. He’s stubborn when it comes to changing his ways, especially when it deals with technology. I’ve heard more times than I’d like that I spend too much time on my computer and phone – texting, tweeting, Liking, posting, etc.
Well, my dad would be happy to hear that a recent study released by COLLOQUY showed that good old fashion face-to-face conversations are still the leading form of communication among both the general population, as well as young adults – at least when the conversation is about brands.
According to the study, social networks were the forum for 56% of young adults and 35% of everyone when it came time to recommending products and services. That means that 18-25 year olds prefer face-to-face and mobile conversations over both social media interactions and even text messaging.
Let’s be honest – is anyone surprised that real life conversations and phone calls trump social media interaction when it comes to product recommendations? Sure services like Yelp, Urbanspoon and even Foursquare can help me figure out where I want to eat on a Friday night, but what about recommendations on fashion, music, good whisky, or the right wheels for my new road bike? Reading product reviews and countless Google searches can sometimes be daunting. Q&A services like Quora, Linkedin Answers and the new Facebook Questions are useful, but still far from “mainstream.”
I personally turn to my friends more than I would any digital source to make sure skinny jeans are actually “in” before I end up in a Miller Light commercial. It’s true that many of my friends are on Facebook and Twitter, but at large it seems like picking up the phone, or asking a colleague at work are still the preferred (and honestly most direct) ways to get the product recommendations we’re looking for – in a nutshell, it’s all about conversations.
That being said, let’s not count out social media as a strong influencer in this equation. It’s important to recognize that over half of all young adults and over one third of the total public are discussing products/services in a forum where brands can join in – social networks.
To me, 56% is a significant contribution (contrary to eMarketer’s headline for the study – Product recommendations remain low in social media) – so while companies are restricted from directly participating in our face-to-face conversations or tapping our phone calls with our friends, they do have the ability to influence these offline conversations through social media.
In a way, this study actually further supports the case for brands’ participation in social. Many companies have always placed a large emphasis on product reviews both on and off of their site, but according to these figures, conversations are what people trust most when it comes to recommendations. Whether it is online or offline, a two way dialog is much more useful than reading a company website or even customer reviews.
One finding to come out of this report that I found most surprising, was the fact that consumers’ likelihood of recommending a product or service has dropped 24% from 2009-2011. eMarketer suggests that the struggling economy is likely to blame for the downward shift.
If anything, this drop-off further supports the importance of using social media as a CRM tool. Brand’s strongest assets are their customers. Consumer advocacy propels the success of a brand, so whether the conversations are happening offline or online, social networks provide an amazing opportunity for brands to not only influence discussions, but create engagement as well.
Of course the issue of measurement and determining how much weight online efforts have in shaping offline conversations remains a large road block for many companies – and I believe will continue to for some time.
It will certainly be interesting to see where social media goes in terms of influencing product and service recommendations. Do you expect the % to increase? Level off? These percentages will certainly vary by vertical and industry, so it’s very important to know where your customers are talking and what they’re saying. Here’s a tip, if my father falls within your brand’s demographic, don’t look for him on social networks (or even a computer for that matter).
