August 24, 2010 9:00 AM

Invoke Solutions, a market research firm, recently performed a study on frequent social media users to determine which factors they feel makes social media trustworthy. The main results, which were discussed in a recent blog post on eMarketer, narrow down several main social media trust characteristics.

The main concern for social media users was that for a site to be deemed “trustworthy” it needs to be open to both positive and negative comments, the content provided needs to be high quality and needs to offer value to the audience, and the content author or contributor needs to be readily available and responsive.  As eMarketer goes on to discuss, all of these concerns point directly towards the best practices associated with social media including being engaged and authentic.

So how can you address these concerns by using best practices?

1. Be open to positive and negative Comments. One of the biggest mistakes that marketers often make when they begin using social media is that they are unprepared for the negative comments that come their way.  It’s important to fully understand that social media is an open communication platform and that by taking part you are opening your company up to both the good and the bad that open conversation is capable of. Now, before you get scared away, the other essential thing to remember is that being open to the negative is often an fabulous opportunity to create trust with your audience. By allowing your customers to see that you’re not perfect, but that you are willing to deal with the complaints that come your way quickly, openly, and honestly, you can help develop a strong brand reputation and increase brand reputation through trust.
2. Create quality content. One of the keys to doing this is to make sure that your content is valuable for your target audience. Try to ensure that your content is always educational and focuses on building and nurturing relationships rather than selling your product or services. 
3. Be open, responsive and authentic. At the end of the day, people like to buy from people. Being available and responsive to customer comments, questions or complaints is a an essential element for creating a relevant, authentic online presence, one of the key factors affecting whether or not your social media followers trust you and your brand or not.

Blogger Profile: Marqui Web Marketing Blog
Marqui's Web Marketing Blog is brought to you by their marketing and consulting team to share ideas, best practices and trends from the world of web marketing. The blog aims to cover a broad array of topics relating to web marketing including content management, conversion optimization, SEO, email marketing and lead nurturing.

Posted by Sue Ansell at August 24, 2010 9:00 AM

Categories: Sales and marketing Social media Social networking

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