Personal media ads — When real customer relationships replace advertising algorithms

And here the whole principle is explained: Customers know best who in their environment could also be interested in the service they consume and send the purchase recommendation to actual, potential new customers. That is why the personal aspect is particularly important here. Targeting is hardly more precise than through personal recommendations. These authentic recommendations are then sent by satisfied customers to their acquaintances as directly as possible via common communication channels, by reporting on a positive experience. Almost like the analog word of mouth, only more direct, faster and measurable. The advertising texts in the form of a personal message are pre-prepared by the companies and automatically loaded into satisfied customers' messengers and forwarded directly to their contacts with one or two clicks. The resulting personal purchase recommendation corresponds to highly effective advertising — or even a “personal media ad.”

Why should a marketer be interested in personal media ads?

Compared to traditional advertising channels such as social media ads, personal media ads have a number of exciting advantages:

1. Content

• Social media ads: Impersonal
• Personal media ads: Specific and personalized by friends, acquaintances or a family member

2. Attention

• Social media ads: Is ignored and overlooked
• Personal media ads: 99% opening rate as it is received via messenger

3. Targeting

• Social media ads: Data-based
• Personal media ads: relationship-oriented

4. Effectiveness

• Social media ads: Becoming less and less effective
• Personal media ads: A word of mouth impression results in 5x more sales than a paid impression (Nielsen 2022)

5. Marketing

• Social media ads: About the company itself
• Personal media ads: Customers market products for the company

The future significance of personal media ads

The future of personal media ads promises exciting opportunities for companies. In a digital world in which you can barely save yourself from advertising and in which hardly any ad remains in your memory, companies must be able to stand out. Or can you still remember the last advertisement that was suggested to you?

We know that's exactly why Word of Mouth Marketing has become so important. For the first time, personal media ads offer an opportunity to actively use and optimize the effect of word-of-mouth advertising. By using personal relationships and dissemination by customers themselves, personal media ads become an effective and trustworthy way to pick up happy customers right after the experience. However, this does not replace traditional advertising methods, as personal media ads can only be used correctly in after sales.

Personal media ads in the marketing mix

It definitely makes sense to keep a close eye on this emerging form of advertising and consider how personal media ads can be cleverly integrated into your own marketing strategy. The goal? A stronger bond with customers and increasing sales figures. After all, personal media ads show exactly what we've known for a long time — namely that satisfied customers are themselves the best advertising ambassadors. And instead of investing the majority of the budget in increasingly expensive advertisements, a targeted personal media ads strategy can offer a more effective and cost-effective addition. What is better than having happy customers acquire new customers themselves?