With all the research being done around marketing online and how people use the web, it’s come to light that people just don’t trust corporations as much as they used to, especially not with the way that most companies have managed to smear themselves and sacrifice credibility for a quick buck. So who do they trust?

Well, honestly – people like me.

It’s not the hair, although I have to admit that my machismo gets the best of me sometimes. No, it’s the authority that comes from blogging.

Some have said that within the realm of social media, people don’t generally trust bloggers, however research into that area has shown otherwise. I don’t particularly go for the assertion that bloggers have no authority. I agree that the category of “bloggers” as a whole isn’t necessarily trusted but there are plenty of people who come to specifically trust and form relationships with bloggers and their blogs.

eMarketer did a recent study that clearly demonstrated what I’m talking about. Their study “what makes social media trustworthy” looked into which sources of information are most and least trusted by the average user:

Consider the percentages in this image. 30% or less actually trust brands, products and companies based on participation within Twitter and other communities and less than 40% trust brands on Facebook. Remarkable, over 60% trust blog posts from an individual that they know or have come to know through blogging.

What does this mean for someone who is involved in marketing? It means you and your company need to step out from behind the corporate logo, stop drawing lines in the sand and establish a real presence through blogging. Whether you do it on your own, outsource it, or let your employees develop a voice through blogs you need to do something.

It need to be apparent to customers that there are real people within a company that have real opinions that aren’t being glazed over or astro-turfed. You should be willing to let the employees that work for you represent your brand in a productive, authentic way that matters to the people you’re targeting.

Honestly, it’s more about what you do and what you say than where you’re participating. It doesn’t matter where you hold the conference, as long as what you’re saying to the people that are gathering provides value – the type of value they’re looking for.

People want the opportunity for a two way dialogue, they have very little interest in being talked “at”. One-way messages from any brand have far less impact than an engaging situation where the individual has a chance to actually be heard in the middle of a conversation. They don’t just want a place to vent, that’s only a small portion of the population that can’t control their tongue.

This is how real people speak – in dialogue. Blogging allows just that, and here is proof that it’s effective.

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