Social Media Not Preferred Recommendation Resource
Although I love online social media, it turns out that nothing beats a word-of-mouth recommendation to get new business, according to a new study by ARAnet.
Word-of-mouth recommendations from friends or family remain the most influential resource on advice for those looking to purchase products and services, but overall, search engines are also becoming a trusted source.
Young and highly educated consumers say online sources influence their buying decisions at a higher rate compared with the rest of the population, but social media resides down at the bottom of the list, according to a recent survey. Overall, consumers rely less on resources in social sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace, according to a survey from Opinion Research Co., sponsored by ARAnet.
Scott Severson, president of survey sponsor ARAnet, believes companies need to have more than one way to reach consumers online because not all will want to have contact via email or social sites. Companies will need search engine optimization (SEO) and paid-search campaign strategies, too. In other words, one campaign message will not resonate with all consumers the same way.
For more details, read "Social Media Not Preferred Recommendation Resource."
It's important to remember that Social Media can actually serve to enhance word of mouth between people that trust each other. Even though information found via social media might not be as trusted (when discovered at random), good social media networking can streamline word of mouth transferring and create quicker buzz.
People that couldn't actively recommend you in the past now can do it with greater ease to their family and friends, which as the study shows is still the best way to get business.