Marketers turn to ads on social media sites – but consumers still wary
20% of online advertisers surveyed by Jupiter Research say they plan to test viral marketing in vehicles such as blogs this year—but Jupiter also found that most consumers don’t trust product information they get on social media sites. The winning advertising campaigns will plan for this by supporting viral campaigns with more conventional forms of online advertising, according to Jupiter’s report, “Viral Marketing: Beyond Social Media.”
More than half—52%—of the online advertisers surveyed who say they’re trying viral marketing online this year are new to that form of advertising, Jupiter says. But those already familiar with the format have learned some things about what works and what doesn`t. For example, brand awareness is generally being placed ahead of direct response goals in online viral campaigns, it adds. 71% of viral marketers surveyed say they hope to increase brand awareness with viral campaigns, while 54% expect to drive online sales and 44% hope to drive offline sales with viral marketing online.
The Jupiter report points out that because the social media space is just emerging, viral marketing within social media is faced by a degree of mistrust from consumers. The survey determined that 69% of consumers don’t trust the product information they get on social media sites. Consumers were twice as likely to trust product information on a company web site or professional review site.
Consumers may not convert on an ad viewed on a social media site, but the ad may drive them to search for additional information about a featured product in the ad. As a result, Jupiter advises, viral marketers using social media sites to advertise need to support the campaign with search engine campaigns and company web sites that serve up product information consistent with that found in social media in these more conventional online formats.
Jupiter’s report notes that consumers are almost three times as likely to research a product on a search engine as the result of viewing an online ad as they are to simply forward a message on the ad to a friend.
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