Online recommendations might be as influential as in-person ones, but the vast majority of word-of-mouth (W-O-M) impressions about brands occur offline, at least among Millennials (18-34). That’s according to new figures released by the Keller Fay Group, which show that some 84% of Millennials’ word-of-mouth impressions about brands take place offline – with 71% the result of face-to-face conversations (versus just 3% over social media).
Not surprisingly, digital media acts as more of a W-O-M driver for Millennials than for other adults, referenced in 25% and 19% of impressions, respectively. (Of note, social media takes a backseat to brand websites and internet ads within the digital media category.)
Second to digital media is TV, referenced in 17% of Millennials’ brand word-of-mouth conversations and 18% of all other adults’ (aged 35-69), suggesting that TV remains a force with this cohort even if they’re watching less than older generations.
Understanding how and why brands are discussed in Millennials’ conversations is particularly important given research suggesting that word-of-mouth has a high degree of influence on Millennials’ purchase decisions and tends to act as a bigger influence on consumers than any paid or owned media.