Thought of the Day
"But social applications are about consideration, not awareness.
Blogs,
word of mouth, social networks . . . they're about people connecting
with other people. You may resist advertising if your finances are
tight, but if your bud tells you that new movie is really worth seeing
or that the Gap has the cutest new tops, that's more persuasive than
advertising. Basically, in a recession, the consideration phase is more
important than awareness -- and that's where advertising flops and
social applications succeed."
~Josh Bernoff - Forrester
Like many generalities, this is true most of the time. Nevertheless,some place a higher premium on recommendations than others. A divorce lawyer I know found that where women seek out lawyers based on personal recommendations, men often use other sources. One of my friends ignores Zagat ratings because he feels that they gather the comments of average people rather than gourmands. So, what's my point? Research how your audience makes buying decisions before investing your marketing resources. After all, they're the ones that you care about...
Posted by: Barbara Bix | Thursday, February 07, 2008 at 05:40 PM
Agree.
Though I think we're seeing new definitions of what exactly a friend (bud) is.
We have true friends in the real world, and then "digital friends" whom we hardly know and have never met.
People have to have credibility and influence over me for me to trust their recommendation. I'd definitely consider a purchase endorsed by someone I know personally vs. seeing a feed go by on Facebook from a "digital friend."
Posted by: Mari Smith | Friday, February 08, 2008 at 03:16 PM
That's also where search can succeed, either through paid search or SEO. Since you'll probably see folks spending more time online, getting to the top of any search engine, if not a #1 priority, could be a #1A.
Posted by: Daniel | Monday, February 11, 2008 at 10:28 AM
I like this quote. It's something that you can't just by spending money. It's about being genuine, connecting with people and listening to them. Relationship don't care whether or not there's a recession, that's the beauty of it, and that's something so incredibly powerful that money just can't buy.
Posted by: Nabilah Said | Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 11:31 PM