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New Euro study reveals influence of the internet
A new survey of
5,000 European consumers concludes that the internet is nearly five times more influential than printed media and twice as influential as television at affecting the outcome of a purchasing decision.
The average response to how influential the internet is was 42% in the UK, 40% in Germany and 37% in France. This compares to 23%, 22% and 25% for television in each respective country. Newspapers and magazines scored between 9% and 14% each.
The influence of the internet is even more pronounced with purchases that are seen to have a significant impact on consumers’ lives. This is true for purchasing decisions in travel and leisure, major purchases (TVs, PCs etc) and financial products. Although it is not a category, the purchase of a property overseas is an even bigger decision, so it’s likely the above statistics underestimate the role of the internet in our industry.
It’s all about trust
Although consumers see the benefits of the internet, there are still big doubts in their minds about the trustworthiness of information they find online. This suggests overcoming consumer scepticism is a key part of the marketing problem we all face when trying to get consumers to make an enquiry.
Behaviour also varies according to the range of available choices and the impact a purchase will have on their lives. When there are lots of available choices and a purchase has a big influence over a consumer’s life (such as in overseas property) buyers are much more likely to seek the opinions of others through social sites, like forums.
Implications for overseas agents
There are a number of implications for overseas property agents from this research. The most important is that the highest value activity you can engage in on the web is building trust. There are fewer buyers around now, they use the internet extensively, they are more informed and less likely to trust you than ever before. That’s the marketing problem. If you can address it, you’ll make sales, even in a slowing market. Here are a few ideas to help you:
- Make sure your website looks trustworthy. A clean design can make the difference between someone making an enquiry and someone clicking to a competitor.
- Humanise your website. Use pictures of staff and past customers as well as prominent physical address to convey trust.
- The number one objective of your website is to answer consumer questions and objections. Find one of your listings on Google and click it. Think of all the questions a customer might ask when they arrive on your site. Have you provided clear navigation (click path) to help the consumer answer those questions or will they press the back button?
- Help people out on forums. It’s a lot easier to influence buyers earlier on in the research process than later. If you build a relationship and they buy, they’ll be a lot more likely to buy from you than a competitor. Totally Property (link to our story) has a good business model.
- If people do start criticising you, address it. If you bury your head in the sand, you will lose trust and business, like Harlequin Property.