The world of marketing, as we know it, is transforming. Authenticity interests Millennials and Gen Z consumers not salesmanship. They want recommendations from people like themselves. The traditional forms of marketing: B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumer) are giving way to P2P (Peer-to-Peer.)
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P2P marketing is a method that involves customers engaging other customers through recommendations and reviews.
“Millennials and their Gen Z counterparts have diminished brand trust compared to past generations. And they want insights from people whose lives are like theirs,” Barrett Wissman, Chairman of IMG Artists writes in Entrepreneur. “Opening the floodgates for peer-to-peer marketing.”
Nielsen’s 2015 Global Trust in Advertising report found that friends and family are the most trusted sources of recommendations, with 83 percent of respondents completely or “somewhat” trusting peers’ suggestions. This is in line with other Nielsen reports. These reports have shown up to 92 percent trust in peers — far more than any other group with which they interact.
Never before has quality of product and service been so transparent. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, “the medium is the messenger.”
P2P helps businesses because it doesn’t feel like a sales tactic. People who aren’t being paid to shill for a company will only recommend a brand if they believe in it. More and more people are gravitating away from businesses that feel too pushy or self-focused. Therefore, P2P options lends authenticity that literally can’t be bought.