Search Engine Guide’s Paul Zahn, author of an article titled, “Fake User Reviews Can Really Hurt Your Brand,” would probably agree.  In reference to those fake reviews, he writes, “This isn’t just search engine manipulation.  It’s user manipulation, and that’s personal.  If I go to Yahoo Local (Yahoo isn’t the only victim), there will be multiple listings for the same business with over 70 canned five-star reviews.”

For better or for worse, only one or two WebProNews threads have approached 70 comments in length, and – this is definitely “for better” – we’ve never gotten that many spammy remarks.  Yet, as Zahn points out, “If I were a potential customer and saw these results and testimonials, I’d run away.  When I get tired, I’d run faster and warn everyone I could along the way to stay away from that brand.”

Yet that doesn’t mean business owners have to give up on the power of user reviews.  Zahn writes, “To any business, please, please encourage your satisfied clients or customers to go into places like Citysearch, Yahoo Local, Yelp, or Insider Pages and give real reviews!”

He notes, “Some may only give you four out of five stars.  Some may include typos.  Some may even misspell your name!  This is all fine.  Consumers are smart.  As long as there is honest information about you, consumers will make their own decisions and gain that trust before they even call you.”

Heck, even consumers who aren’t smart (come on, we know they’re out there) can help your brand.  When someone writes, “shut up.  APPLE F*!@$*% ROCKS!!” after an article, it’s not necessarily constructive, but it’s evidence that someone strongly likes Apple.

Authentic reviews are good.  False ones are not.  Govern yourself, and your business, accordingly.

We have ended up with a trust-authenticity duality; you can’t have one without the other. On one hand authenticity leads to trust, as human beings, we dare trust a person who is authentic. On the other hand we need a certain level of trust to actually perceive a person as being authentic. The relation between the two is way more complex though!

Do you have examples of what makes you perceive a blogger or a company as authentic? they ask. Well, I would like to throw “personality” in, and as a result of that a blogger’s more or less unique voice.

Authenticity is, to me, a process and not a situation. As Jesper and Jon seem to think, it’s something being built (or not) over time. There are many different ingredients in it. When we’re talking about corporate blogging one important ingredient is transparency. I want to read things that I wouldn’t have read in other channels of corporate communication. But within their duality this actually relates more to “trust”, which still leaves the question of authenticity unanswered.

And that’s where I turn to “personality” to find an explanation of authenticity. It’s impossible to say what in a text that conveys personality. It will differ between bloggers — and that’s also the point.

I read bloggers that have an annoyingly big ego.
I read bloggers that are impressed by other’s egos.
I read bloggers that asks more questions than they give answers.
I read bloggers that never doubts their own answers.
I read bloggers that tell me about their family and friends.
I read bloggers that I doubt have friends.

But they’re all personalities to me. I know how they write. They might surprise me, they might even be unpredictable in what they say and think, but I’m sure it’s them.

That’s authenticity to me.

Reader Comments…

Fredrik Wacka is the author and founder of the popular CorporateBlogging.Info blog which is a guide to business and corporate blogging.

Visit Fredrik Wacka’s blog: CorporateBlogging.Info.

It’s always sound to be sceptical against anyone trying to predict the future. But if they’re right, blogging sure is one step – perhaps a tiny one, but still – towards what this generation both want and expect from marketers. In the preface (pdf) I read:

“What we see is an evolving world of individuals, with multi-faceted personalities, trying hard to maximise their opportunities. These individuals most value personal relationships and distrust everything and everyone they consider to be superficial. They are crying out for authenticity.”

Hat tip to Richard.

Links: Kairos Future
The MeWe Generation

Reader Comments…

Fredrik Wacka is the author and founder of the popular CorporateBlogging.Info blog which is a guide to business and corporate blogging.

Visit Fredrik Wacka’s blog: CorporateBlogging.Info.