What a statement in a recent Forrester Research report: "People don't trust company blogs.  What you should do about it”.  The post goes on to state that “Consumers trust company blogs less than any other channel” and that blogs come in below newspapers, portals, wikis and even direct mail in the trust department. 

Really? 

Let’s put the research in context.  To begin, these findings were collected in Q2 2008, and much has happened since then.  Influential corporate bloggers such as the BBC’s Robert Peston (“Peston’s Picks”) have surged in readership (and influence) since the economic meltdown.

Second, this societal distrust existed long before Forrester was founded and mirrors the larger citizen deficit and critical eye to media which we now encounter – consumers are critical and apply certain criteria to their increasingly conscious choices about how and where we spend our money, leisure and life choices from coffee to cars. This is the reality of anyone choosing to engage with consumers through various communications vehicles, from direct mail to radio.

Within the Forrester study results are some very positive findings on many of the targeted consumers for our clients.  Those who do trust blogs are 24% more likely to trust consumer product ratings/reviews (84% v. 60%).  Additionally, those who trust company blogs are 32% more likely to trust online content sites such as CNET and nytimes.com (71% v 39%); the same spread exists for print magazines.  A whopping 45% are more likely to trust personal blogs (63% v 18%) and 40% are more likely to trust SNS profiles from a company or brand (58% v 18%) than the US adult online population.

Thus, Forrester's headline creates its own haze of distrust of corporate blogging, and focuses on those who may be resistant and distrustful to more than just media.  If you keep reading, Forrester offers viable solutions to hurdle the “low-trust barrier”. They include:

• Get your employees in the act.  Their insight and impact beyond their desks can elevate trust and attract new follows and fans.  HP and Sun are great examples of having used employees other than corporate comms to drive blog content.  In my opinion, this keeps your content from becoming too narrow by diversifying your base of contributors (and potential readers).
  

• Blog to establish a voice outside that of your press releases.  As Bernhoff notes, blogging solely for the sake of PR does nothing to increase the level of consumer trust and is not easily measured for its bottom line contributions.  A great example of a company that has punched above its weight is New Seasons Market, a family-owned grocer recently subpoenaed by Whole Foods Market (the world’s largest organic grocer) for its email files in a federal lawsuit.  New Seasons Market is using Twitter and other tools to ensure that its voice is heard on a global scale.

So, be critical of snappy headlines such as those chosen by Forrester's Bernoff.  As New Seasons Market is proving to many, corporate blogging does work.  You can be nimble, agile and relevant to your consumers (and critics) in ways not possible last holiday season.    

Source: North American Technographics Media and Marketing Online Survey, Q2 2008