It’s a Matter of Trust

There is opinion... both spoken and written on the Internet. When we talk about word of mouth, reviews or testimonials, we are not just talking about the words and phrasing, we are really talking about trust.

And, research on the effect of trust being transferred to what we read on the Internet is almost unbelievable. Check out this article on a...

There is opinion... both spoken and written on the Internet. When we talk about word of mouth, reviews or testimonials, we are not just talking about the words and phrasing, we are really talking about trust.

And, research on the effect of trust being transferred to what we read on the Internet is almost unbelievable. Check out this article on a study from Local Consumer Review Survey. There are a lot of graphs which show the increasing importance of online reviews in the decision making process.  With an alarming increase, people are taking the opinions of strangers as facts.

If you dig down just below the surface on this information, you get the most compelling reason to have a pro-active online review strategy. It’s a matter of trust. Regardless of why it is happening, more and more people are trusting reviews they read on the Internet and considering them more valid. Perhaps this is bolstered by a good experience they themselves have had following an accurate review. Perhaps this is occurring in part because we grew up thinking if we read it in the paper or in a book it was true. Perhaps, it is because we want to believe what we hear and read. Perhaps it is because we are suspicious and skeptical about advertising. Or, perhaps its all of the above.

Regardless of the reason, more and more people are taking the words of strangers into consideration when making a decision about a local business. In turn, it is safe to say that the flip side of that coin is that what you have on your web site is considered more and more to be marketing content designed to persuade the reader to buy. So, what do you do about this?

You play the game.You fight fire with fire. If most people are trusting what they read on review sites, make sure your best foot is being put forward there.  There is nothing wrong or unethical about seeing to it that legitimate positive reviews are showing up in a place we know is influencing buying.  This is the core principle of our Online Review Manager Program. If you are ready to cover this base, contact me at donald@dogstarmedia.com and we will get you set up.