Influence

Consumer Influence in Potential Buyers’ Purchase Decisions: What Does This Mean for Marketers? A study sited in MediaPost’s Media magazine noted that “75% of shoppers say it is extremely or very important to read customer reviews before making a purchase. And they prefer peer reviews over expert reviews by a 6-to-1 margin.” I always read consumer reviews of products when the site I am purchasing from provides the reviews next to the product I am considering. And, these reviews almost always help me decide one way or another. Zappos.com is great about providing this kind of feedback, and it is so helpful to have people tell you about the fit, size, color, etc. when you are buying online—where things don’t always show up the size or color you envisioned them, or you can’t be there to try it on. I love iTunes for this reason too—many times I have been influenced to try new music because others who bought something I liked have also purchased xx. When I buy products online that do not provide these consumer reviews, I typically don’t actively seek out other consumer reviews. And, I am almost always disappointed with my purchase because something wasn’t as I thought it would be. You would think I would have learned my lesson by now: consumer reviews are helpful. So, if consumers themselves are selling our clients’ products/services for us, then what are advertisers responsible for in the purchase cycle? If the product is good enough, it will sell itself, right? Maybe, but not always. Admittedly, our tactics must shift a bit, but how do consumers find out about products and services? Advertising. How do think about those products and services, and come understand the brand? Advertising. What changes need occur in our marketing efforts? According to one of my favorite blogs, Influx Insights:“If we shift over from the media to the marketing world, it appears that most marketing departments aren't yet designed and organized to manage and cope with Marketing 2.0 [the Marketing 2.0 trend suggests a new open environment of participation between brands and their customers], most are still working and structured for a 1.0 world. “The Marketing Department is going to need to change radically, but there are some questions. “How do they make the transition? “When does the "tipping point" occur? “Marketing departments need fundamentally new skill sets, new positions/job titles and they are also going to need some smart technology to assist them. “Given how little bandwidth most departments have these days, it's safe to assume that there are quite a few brands out there who risk damaging their reputations because they simply aren't structured to cope with the new era of conversation and participation.” Clearly, advertising/marketing and public communications must work hand-in-hand in this new Marketing 2.0 era to craft our messages and inform consumers about our clients’ products and services, and then correct any misperceptions. And, we must learn from and leverage the consumer feedback and influence that is out there to constantly improve our communications tactics, and if necessary, make recommendations for improving the products/services we are selling. We should feel lucky that consumers are that interested and we should listen and learn from what they have to say. Let’s get out there and listen to them. In fact, let’s invite them to tell us what they think.