A recent global Nielsen Internet survey shows that nearly twice as many consumers trust online reviews than they do search engine ads. The precise figures were 61% compared to 34%. Only banner ads at 26% and mobile text ads at 18% were trusted less than paid search ads. The question posed was "To what extent do you trust the following forms of advertising?" and the results are as follows;
Recommendations from consumers - 78%
Newspapers - 63%
Consumer opinions posted online - 61%
Brand websites - 60%
Television - 56%
Magazines - 56%
Radio - 54%
Brand sponsorships - 49%
Email I signed up for - 49%
Ads before movies - 38%
Search engine ads - 34%
Online banner ads - 26%
Text ads on mobile phones - 18%
The Nielsen survey - which covered 26,486 internet users in 47 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East - is further evidence of the growth in importance of consumer generate reviews and content, as well as the emergence of online review based sites such as TripAdvisor, Holiday Critic, and RealHolidayReports.com. It also issues a clear warning to those businesses that ignore user generated content and rely solely on paid search marketing strategies such as pay per click and banner ads to influence online consumers.
However, before proceeding to terminate your paid search campaigns and divert all of your precious online marketing budget into social media websites, it is worth taking a moment to look more closely at what the survey results are actually saying.
First of all, these results are really only reinforcing what we already know - which is that "word of mouth" and "personal recommendations" are one of the most influential marketing tools available to any business. There is nothing earth shattering in this revelation.
We also know that the internet consistently receives bad publicity through spam, fraud, phishing and other unsavoury activities, so it shouldn't be that surprising if some of this filters through to influence the way consumers view online advertising. This credibility issue is unique to the internet and traditional media such as newspapers, TV and radio do not face the same level of negativity.
Another important point is that the survey is not suggesting that paid search ads, banner ads or mobile text ads are not effective. The issue here is about perception and not effectiveness - even though the two are inextricably linked. Many people may say that they do not trust search ads, but there is no doubting that well organised pay per click campaigns can be highly profitable and many businesses rely heavily on them.
One final point, the Nielsen survey did not include natural search engine listings in the mix. This is a shame as it would have been very interesting to see how these stacked up credibility wise against both online reviews and paid search ads. There is plenty of research to show that consumers view the natural listings as somehow being "endorsed" by the search engines and so attach a greater trust to these than they do paid listings. It is possible that the paid search ads from businesses that have good exposure in the natural search listings have a greater trust amongst consumers than those that don't.
So, what can we learn from the results of this survey.
In recent years many travel and leisure based businesses have had to re-think the way they approach their online marketing with the emergence of consumer generated content. This is particularly true of the hotels sector where user generated reviews have been a widely used component of the online buying process for several years, and cannot be ignored. As the survey clearly shows, the time has come for online PR and online reputation management to be key components of every hotel's online marketing mix.
What about other travel and leisure based businesses that are less affected by online reviews and rely heavily on paid search strategies? Well, despite the 'trust" issue highlighted by the survey, Pay Per Click, banner ads and mobile text ads are still highly effective advertising mediums. If a paid search campaign has a positive ROI then why would you not continue with that campaign?
It is not an 'either or scenario', and there is an increasingly compelling argument for all travel based businesses to look at diverting at least some marketing funds to social media websites to ensure that they are maximising their opportunities to generate sales through creating positive digital word of mouth.
Recommendations from consumers - 78%
Newspapers - 63%
Consumer opinions posted online - 61%
Brand websites - 60%
Television - 56%
Magazines - 56%
Radio - 54%
Brand sponsorships - 49%
Email I signed up for - 49%
Ads before movies - 38%
Search engine ads - 34%
Online banner ads - 26%
Text ads on mobile phones - 18%
The Nielsen survey - which covered 26,486 internet users in 47 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East - is further evidence of the growth in importance of consumer generate reviews and content, as well as the emergence of online review based sites such as TripAdvisor, Holiday Critic, and RealHolidayReports.com. It also issues a clear warning to those businesses that ignore user generated content and rely solely on paid search marketing strategies such as pay per click and banner ads to influence online consumers.
However, before proceeding to terminate your paid search campaigns and divert all of your precious online marketing budget into social media websites, it is worth taking a moment to look more closely at what the survey results are actually saying.
First of all, these results are really only reinforcing what we already know - which is that "word of mouth" and "personal recommendations" are one of the most influential marketing tools available to any business. There is nothing earth shattering in this revelation.
We also know that the internet consistently receives bad publicity through spam, fraud, phishing and other unsavoury activities, so it shouldn't be that surprising if some of this filters through to influence the way consumers view online advertising. This credibility issue is unique to the internet and traditional media such as newspapers, TV and radio do not face the same level of negativity.
Another important point is that the survey is not suggesting that paid search ads, banner ads or mobile text ads are not effective. The issue here is about perception and not effectiveness - even though the two are inextricably linked. Many people may say that they do not trust search ads, but there is no doubting that well organised pay per click campaigns can be highly profitable and many businesses rely heavily on them.
One final point, the Nielsen survey did not include natural search engine listings in the mix. This is a shame as it would have been very interesting to see how these stacked up credibility wise against both online reviews and paid search ads. There is plenty of research to show that consumers view the natural listings as somehow being "endorsed" by the search engines and so attach a greater trust to these than they do paid listings. It is possible that the paid search ads from businesses that have good exposure in the natural search listings have a greater trust amongst consumers than those that don't.
So, what can we learn from the results of this survey.
In recent years many travel and leisure based businesses have had to re-think the way they approach their online marketing with the emergence of consumer generated content. This is particularly true of the hotels sector where user generated reviews have been a widely used component of the online buying process for several years, and cannot be ignored. As the survey clearly shows, the time has come for online PR and online reputation management to be key components of every hotel's online marketing mix.
What about other travel and leisure based businesses that are less affected by online reviews and rely heavily on paid search strategies? Well, despite the 'trust" issue highlighted by the survey, Pay Per Click, banner ads and mobile text ads are still highly effective advertising mediums. If a paid search campaign has a positive ROI then why would you not continue with that campaign?
It is not an 'either or scenario', and there is an increasingly compelling argument for all travel based businesses to look at diverting at least some marketing funds to social media websites to ensure that they are maximising their opportunities to generate sales through creating positive digital word of mouth.
1 comments:
I wonder how trusted online reviews will be seen when the system becomes overtly rorted by those looking to post fake testimonials for products or services.
We are all subject to media spin in other media, and I don't think it will take long for us to sort out fake online reviews. In the marketplace it is 'buyer beware', on the Internet it is 'reader beware'.
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