• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 5, 2006

According to the Jupiter Research report, "Viral Marketing: Beyond Social Media," summarized by Internet Retailer, 20% of online advertisers surveyed say they plan to test viral marketing ithis year, but Jupiter also found that most consumers don't trust product information they get on social media sites. The report notes that advertisers will plan for this by supporting viral campaigns with more conventional forms of online advertising,

52% of the online advertisers surveyed who say they're trying viral marketing online this year are new to that form of advertising, says the report. 71% of viral marketers surveyed say they hope to increase brand awareness with viral campaigns, while 54% expect to drive online sales and 44% hope to drive offline sales with viral marketing online.

The Jupiter report points out that because the social media space is just emerging, viral marketing within social media is faced by a degree of mistrust from consumers. The survey determined that 69% of consumers don't trust the product information they get on social media sites. Consumers were twice as likely to trust product information on a company web site or professional review site.

Though consumers may not convert on an ad viewed on a social media site, the ad may drive them to search for additional information about a featured product. As a result, Jupiter concludes, viral marketers using social media sites to advertise need to support the campaign with search engine campaigns and company web sites.

Follow up on the study through Internet Retailer here.