Why You Need to Pay Attention to the Social Media Buzz
04.07.2008
Your customers are 3 times more likely to trust opinions from their peers than advertising messages from you, according to Jupiter data published at eMarketer. This isn’t new, of course. Peers have always been our most trusted resource for buying information. Only now — in this conversational media world — we can track all those watercooler conversations about our brands.
Hey Chas.
If you haven’t already, check out Edelman’s 2008 Trust Barometer (http://www.edelman.co.uk/trustbarometer/), which covers some similar terrain. According to the survey, “conversations with friends and peers” are considered far more trustworthy than “corporate or product advertising,” a “company’s website,” and “communications issued by companies.” (Unfortunately for you, bloggers rate about as low as advertising when it comes to credible sources.)
Julie–
Thanks for pointing me to the Trust Barometer. I’m in New York today and was literally at Edelman’s offices an hour ago. And you can believe me — this is your friend Chas, not the author of ChasNote talking!