Why don't people trust corporate blogs?

Josh Bernoff caught some attention today with the release of new Forrester research data on the trust factor of various information sources.  Corporate blogging came out on the bottom of the list.  I'm still reading the full report that accompanied the chart on Josh's blog, but I reflected on it and shared it with a client with whom I've helped just start a blog.  I thought I'd convey the essence of what I shared here as well.

As Josh rightfully points out in this post, companies that don't take the time and effort to approach blogging in the right way will not get a return on the effort.

So, what should you do about this?

Make no mistake. This is not a plea to give up on blogging.

It is a plea to be thoughtful in how and why you blog.

This means that if you blog, your goal should be to create a blog about which people say “I like that – I don’t think of it as a company blog.” For the most part, that’s a hurdle you need to jump to gain their trust. I don’t mean to hide who is writing the blog. I mean it has to be more about your customers than it is about you.

Blogs exclusively about companies and products are what I think generate these low trust ratings. So don’t do a blog like that.

As I see it, so many companies that start blogs don’t go through a proper exercise -- which is undertaken only after determining the objectives of the blog as part of an overall marketing approach.  At that the point, the exercise involves thinking about the premise for the blog, understanding that it is not a place to talk about products or the company, determining a unique voice, and talking almost always about customer problems and solutions.

Many companies see a blog as a checklist item and use it to post press releases, webinar notices and material straight out of white papers.  Unfortunately this has created a perception that I believe is born out in the research.  This is a good reminder that the approach companies take needs to be as authentic, transparent and altruistic as possible.

At the same time, I believe that some of this should be taken with a grain of salt because of the fact that the survey sample represents the general online population.  The general public has a low trust in companies in general, so are pre-disposed to answer negatively when asked about a company blog.  The amount of trust that exists between individual companies and their customers vary, and companies may have a less steep hill to climb.  However, that is yet another reason to start blogging the right way and use it to build more trust over time.