That’s pretty good advice. We should check everything, and without evidence to confirm, check again. Mind you, every once in a while a report surfaces which does little more than confirm one’s own prejudices, and you wonder whether it’s another case of research from the University of the blatantly obvious.

I’ve recently read a report, dated 2022, on consumer behaviour, which is supported by statistics. In normal circumstances, we should not just accept the data but obviously test just to make sure, but in this case, all it does is support received wisdom.

The first conclusion is that consumers buy more online, particularly since the Covid 19 pandemic. Didn’t we all know that? That said it’s nice to have it confirmed. The next heading tells us that reviews and user-generated content are more influential than ever, but then goes on to suggest that this is contrary to the rumours that influencer marketing is taking a lead in the matter. To support the rumour comes a rather unexpected statistic. It appears 61% of B2C marketers were considering increasing their investment in influencer marketing in 2021, nearly 50% higher than the investment in user generated content. 

In another report, from 2021, it was reported that user generated content is nearly nine times more effective than that of influencer content, which seems much more probable to me. A majority of consumers reckon that they are influenced by posts from friends, family, etc, and the only reason we might doubt that stat is that it seems logical and conforms to our expectations. That is a trap that can be avoided by testing.

Historically, all reports suggest customers tend to believe what their friends say initially and only move away from accepting it if their experiences prove otherwise. Those on your email marketing list will, quite naturally, believe the reviews of others on your list, particularly segmented ones, because they have a lot in common with them. This indicates, very strongly, whom you should encourage to complete reviews, perhaps by various promotions, and shows those to target with them.

Any conclusions of reports need testing, even those we know are right.