by Randall CraigFiled in: Blog, Make It Happen Tipsheet, Trust, ViewpointTagged as: Advertising, Digital Strategy, Legal Compliancy, Risk Management
There has always been a fringe element in society; and now, Social Media has provided an unwitting channel to help advance their agendas. Can anything be done about it?
In the traditional channels, there have long been built-in checks-and-balances to prevent abuse.
The internet, and Social Media in particular, have rendered these checks and balances impotent. We now live in the million-channel universe; anyone can create a website or manipulate opinions via using Social Media profile. And anyone can post their opinion or comment on just about any post.
The challenge for bona fide organizations occurs on many fronts: how to cut through the noise? How to successfully fight a rearguard defense against these fringe elements? And how to differentiate their “truth,” when fringe groups often use these same techniques to propagate their truth? These challenges ring especially true for regulators, but also for academics, public health officials, and financial institutions, amongst others.
Some ideas to prove legitimacy:
As fringe groups have developed increasing sophistication using digital channels, the problem of legitimacy will continue to grow (fake news, anyone?) Indeed, unless legitimate organizations actively defend their turf – and educate their target audiences – they will eventually sink below the radar, and be unable to fulfill their mandate.
For individuals, there is a similar challenge: who to believe? The answer seems simple: friends and family, traditional authorities, government, celebrities, and sadly, also Google. And not in any particular order.
And as a result, many people are taken in by financial hucksters from Nigeria, celebrities who are shills for commercial sponsors, “Google” medical remedies, racist rants, and dubious product pitches with even more dubious testimonials.
Decoding the claims is not that difficult, but it does take some work. Consider these questions:
In today’s loud, hypercharged marketplace, competing for attention is becoming harder and harder. Marketers should remember that it isn’t just how much louder they must shout to be heard above the fringe, but that it is the quality of their arguments and quality of their evidence – that will change a cynic into a believer.
What concrete steps can your organization take to demonstrate legitimacy? And what other ideas do you have to either showcase legitimacy – or sniff out the fraud?
Marketing Insight: While all of the tactics and ideas discussed above are important, they all speak to an even more important truth: The greater the trust, the greater your credibility.
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