Users put trust in social media marketing

Businesses may wish to place an existing focus on their social media marketing agenda after recent figures revealed that recommendations from friends on social networks was the most trusted form of advertising.

According to the research by Nielsen, on a global basis, internet users put the most trust in personal recommendations and independent consumer opinions which are posted online.

Indeed, 90 per cent of web users trust the suggestions they receive from people known to them, while 70 per cent put their faith in customer opinions and reviews.

However, advertiser-led advertising was also trusted by 70 per cent of internet users.

Jonathan Carson, president of online, international for the Nielsen Company, said: "The explosion in consumer-generated media ... means consumers' reliance on word-of-mouth in the decision-making process, either from people they know or online consumers ... has increased significantly."

And firms which want to boost their social media marketing may wish to follow the advice of Search Engine Watch's Liana Evans, who suggested monitoring customer opinion on sites such as Twitter and maintaining good communication with past clients.

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