According the to the 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer out yesterday, that appears to be the case. After taking a dive when the rise of social media saw people turning to their peers online, the wheel seems to be coming full circle.
CEOs now rank among the top credible spokespeople globally – a striking rise from two years ago when they were in the bottom two. A “person like me,” dropped four points globally since 2009, falling from the top three – replacing CEOs in the bottom two. In the U.S., a “person like me” declined precipitously since 2006 (68 percent to 31 percent) among 35-64 year olds.
So can we all breathe a sigh of relief and go back to our traditional PR ways? Don’t write off social media and the peer group quite so fast. People might trust your CEO more than an employee as the official spokesperson, but they still want to be involved and participate in the conversation. There is a lot of discussion and sharing of information online. Your CEO can’t possibly answer every tweet or blog post. Dell just put 5000 employees though social media training and expects them to use it in their everyday work flow, like they do email.
Search engines are still the number one place people go to find information about a company, followed by online news sources and then traditional print and broadcast media.
“People are behaving like smart consumers when it comes to news and information, turning first to search engines to see what is available on the topic they are interested in, and then seeking out traditional media to confirm or expand on what they learn,” said Neal Flieger, chair, StrategyOne, Edelman’s research firm, which conducted the Barometer. “Information ubiquity has changed the playbook for corporate communications. A company with a message can’t simply be present, but rather omnipresent.”
Corporate reputations depend ever more on trust. People are looking for quality products, trust, transparency, and employee welfare. Trust in business depends on what it does and how it communicates today.
How does all this impact your communications strategy for 2011?
If a company already has a trust issue more than half (57 percent) globally will believe negative information about that company after hearing it just once or twice.
Only 15 percent will believe positive information about the distrusted company after hearing it one or two times.
In key Western nations like the U.S. and the UK, approximately a quarter (23 and 27 percent, respectively) say they need to hear something six or more times to believe it, twice as many as two years ago. In the U.S., 14 percent need to hear information 10 or more times to believe it.
“Company actions must deliver on the expectation for a collaborative approach that benefits society – not just shareholders, transparency about how it makes money, and communication in surround-sound through all forms of media – from mainstream to new to social to owned.”
Here are some things to consider for 2011:
- A social media strategy based on listening to your stakeholders
- Owned media, branded content
- Technical experts who can provide insights and engage with your audience
- New media training for your CEO so he can be visible and start to engage
- Social media training for as many employees as possible – make them your best communicators
- Mastering search engine visibility so you get the best ranking for your company information and news
- Provide social features on all company news, so that people can find and share the information
Image Credit: KatieLips on flickr