Declining Trust in Social Media Giants Affecting Consumer Purchase Decisions, New Data Released By Outbrain Ahead of Cyber Weekend Shows
Retail spend on digital ads set to surge 21% this year as marketers adapt to consumer behavior shift
Outbrain, the world’s leading discovery and native advertising platform on the open web, released today new Cyber Weekend data highlighting the shift in trust between social media and consumers compared with the impact of quality news environments.
Read More: SalesTechStar Interview With Nishant Mungali, Co-Founder And Chief Product Officer At MindTickle
Although COVID-19 and the global recession have accelerated the shift of consumer buying to digital channels, data shows consumers’ lack of trust toward the largest digital powerhouses in the world, including Facebook. 46% of consumers trust premium news sites as a preferred source of information over social media platforms, as found by Outbrain. And 47% of consumers will make a future purchase from an ad found on a premium news site, compared to 38% on social media.
Read More: Tips To Maximise Online Sales For Ecommerce Businesses During Downtime
Following on from a webinar with eMarketer, the released data focuses on the new rules of marketing engagement in 2020. While companies are now forced to rethink their entire business models, marketers are reevaluating their communication strategies. Brand marketers that see the opportunities and adopt new tactics to reach consumers will protect their brand equity and gain market share.
“In times of uncertainty, consumers seek reliable news sources — meaning trust in the source is more important than ever. For that reason, quality news publisher sites like BBC and CNN will continue to be the preferred source of information,” said Erin McCallion, Vice President, Global Marketing at Outbrain. “As COVID-19 continues to shift consumer shopping habits, there’s a higher expectation from brands and marketers to make more meaningful connections with their audience. Consumers dislike interruptive marketing tactics and prefer advertising experiences that allow choice for engagement. The question we must ask ourselves is, how can we build and sustain trust digitally given the current inability to create in-person relationships? And it all starts with where, and how, you market online.”
