Marketing Through Trust:

Transcription

1 Marketing Through Trust: Leveraging Influence in the Customer Purchasing Process

2 Understanding the New Purchasing Process 2

3 This is the old way that customers made purchasing decisions a linear process Awareness Opinion Consideration Intention Sales 3

4 The new purchase journey is no longer linear, it s circular McKinsey s Consumer Decision Journey 2 Consumers add or subtract brands as they evaluate what they want Active Evaluation Informal gathering, shopping 1 Initialconsideration set Trigger The consumer considers an initial set of brands, based on brand perceptions and exposure to recent touchpoints. Loyalty Loop Post-purchase Experience Ongoing exposure Moment of purchase 3 Ultimately, the consumer selects a brand at the moment of purchase. Source: 4

5 Consumers have significantly more touchpoints in the decision making process and growing rapidly The average shopper uses 10.4 sources of information to make a decision in 2011 Decision Sources Up from 5.3 sources in Source:

6 Influential touchpoints for consumers are shifting away from company-driven marketing to consumer-driven marketing Word-of-mouth, online research, and offline or print reviews are of key importance to the buying process Most-influential touchpoints by stage of consumer decision journey, for competitors and new customers, % of effectiveness Store/agent/dealer interaction Consumer-driven marketing Word-of-mouth Online research Online and/or print reviews 12% 21% 26% 43% Past experience 28% 37% 31% Company-driven marketing Traditional advertising Direct marketing Sponsorship In-store product experience Salesperson contact 39% 10% 26% 22% -5% Source: Initial consideration set Active evaluation Closure 6

7 The most trusted touchpoints for consumers are socially-driven Recommendations and other consumers opinions are more highly trusted than any brand, or even, editorial content TITLE 92% 70% = Trust % Recommendations from people I know Consumer opinions posted online 58% 50% 58% 46-47% Editorial content such as newspaper articles Branded websites s I signed up for Ads on TV/Brand sponsorships/billboards/ Ads in magazines/ads in newspapers Source: 7

8 Social media is particularly important in the decision process, and in ongoing customer relationships 22% of consumers say that social media is important in their final purchase decision 33% of shoppers say social media introduced them to a brand/product they were unfamiliar with or helped change their opinion of a brand/product Social media is expanding the circle of people consumers trust: from only friends and family to new people they connect with in forums, blogs, and other social media sources Source: 8

9 Influence Marketing to Increase Customer Touchpoints 9

10 Given the increase in customer information sources, it s imperative that brands increase the information available about their product or service One of the primary ways for brands to find their way on to the list of consumer-trusted touchpoints is through third-party endorsements Generating third-party endorsements will provide more opportunities for consumers to get information about your brand, product or service from a source they trust more than the company itself 10

11 There is a vast array of potential third-party (non-company) sources for customer information Online Search engine results Company social media brand engagement on owned channels such as Facebook, company blog, Twitter and YouTube Reviews and comparison shopping sites Retailer/store website Blog post or video where the product was discussed Blog post or article comment which mentions the brand Discussion forum or group Comments on an online post or article Likes, plusses or tweets from friends or those following Offline Conversations with friends or family Experience with product at event Store display or experience with product at a retailer 11

12 Brand influencers could have an impact on, and/or provide credible content to, the majority of third-party sources for customer information Online Search engine results Company social media brand engagement on owned channels such as Facebook, company blog, Twitter and YouTube Reviews and comparison shopping sites Retailer/store website Blog post or video where the product was discussed Blog post or article comment which mentions the brand Discussion forum or group Comments on an online post or article Likes, plusses or tweets from friends or those following Offline Conversations with friends or family Experience with product at event Store display or experience with product at a retailer Turquoise indicates potential opportunity for influencer content 12

13 The Intersection of Search and Influence Marketing 13

14 Third-party endorsements can significantly affect search marketing, which is one of the primary drivers in the consumer decision making process 93% of consumers say they use search in the shopping process Of all the clicks happening on a search engine results page, 92% come from organic results vs. 8% from paid search advertising (brand advertising) Source: 14

15 Search provides a big opportunity to get third-party endorsements to customers Digital influencers with established online platforms, including their own sites/blogs as well as their social media presences, can provide top search engine results for you Forums and groups are often at the top of search engine results listings; influencer activity in these venues can also impact consumer behavior Video also ranks well in search engines and consumers often turn to YouTube for their product and brand searches 15

16 Influencers can help a company dominate organic search results, particularly for non-branded research searches Given the variety of potential influencer content touchpoints, non-branded searches could be enhanced by influence marketing campaigns A few examples of influencer content in non-branded searches follow 16

17 Every one of the top 10 listings for best baby carrier for dad could potentially be influencer-driven. Journalists Bloggers (individuals and retailers) Forum/group posters Red boxes around search results indicate potential or actual influencer content 17

18 18 months later, this blog post is still the #9 organic listing for top non stick skillet the product was provided to this influencer for review purposes. 18

19 Even for a high-consideration purchase such as a car, influencer properties could have a big impact on search. 19

20 Every brand relationship with an influencer can provide multiple customer touchpoints Influencer platforms Their own blog or videos Forums/groups Events and offline groups Their social media Publications they write for Each of these platforms and outlets provides a potential search engine result for a brand, product, service or category 20

21 Leveraging Influence to Gain Customer Trust

22 Traditional marketing goes direct to customers; influence marketing goes through influencers to customers One-to-Many Marketing vs. One-to-Few Marketing Product Influencers Customers 22

23 Influence marketing will change the nature of how we budget and resource marketing efforts Less Advertising spend Super Bowl style high-impact advertising Creative director as the holy grail of the marketing team More Relationship building Communications professionals Listening and research to understand who influencers are Corporate use of platforms to connect to influencers such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest Non-company brand content developed 23

24 Given the shift in customer trust, and the nature of the way they are now searching for information, we are already seeing a change in brand and agency marketing towards effective influence marketing Brands, agencies and people will need to adapt to this new one-to-few influencer-driven approach New skillsets, or skillsets with increasingly greater demand, will include: Data analysis Customer relationship management Relationship-driven communications Brand social media Budgets will move from traditional advertising to communications and influence marketing programs development 24

25 Key Takeaways: Marketing Through Trust Purchasing decisions are no longer linear The number of customer touchpoints for purchasing decisions are growing year-over-year Customers don t trust brand advertising or properties It s imperative for brands to provide more touchpoints for customers, particularly third-party touchpoints Search is also extremely important for customer decision making Influence marketing can have a major impact on search and the creation of customer touchpoints There will be a major shift in brand and agency marketing to accomplish effective influence marketing 25

26 Appendix: Further Reading

27 Further Reading McKinsey s Consumer Decision Journey Basics of Influence Marketing The Influencer Continuum : From Influencer to Super Advocate How to Create Successful Influence Marketing Programs 27

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