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Report: Bloggers trusted more than all but family and friends

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Bloggers are now the third most trustworthy source of information, following only friends and family, according to a UK survey.

Corporate brands are near the bottom, beating out only politicians. Colleaugues fall in the middle of the pack, trailing social media contacts, when it comes to trust.

Lawyers and law firms need to make note of the study as it’s family, friends and colleagues which have long been where consumers and business people have turned to for information and referrals when it came to lawyers and firms.

Journalists with the mainstream media are not even trusted as much social media contacts. That doesn’t bode well long term for law firms working with public relations professionals for media placement.

Here’s the top ten on trust.

  1. Family
  2. Friends
  3. Bloggers
  4. Social media contacts
  5. Colleagues
  6. Journalists
  7. Religious leaders
  8. Celebrities
  9. Brands
  10. Politicians

What makes bloggers more credible per the survey?

Niche focus sharing helpful information, authenticity and not needing to conform to someone else’s editorial policy.

From UK Managing Director of affilinet Helen Southgate (@helenmarie21),

The fact consumers look to bloggers to provide them with information about areas of specific interest, goes right to the heart of the evolution of digital marketing. The question for bloggers is now how they go about building on this trust, maintain editorial integrity, and at the same time, monetise their site.

The media industry has changed so much in recent years. For bloggers to have become more influential on consumers purchasing decisions, speaks to the importance of why brands need to be reaching out to them to connect with their audience, as much – if not more – than they have done with more traditional media outlets…

So many messages for lawyers in this survey’s findings. The overwhelming one is the importance of the niche law blogger for establishing trust with clients, prospective clients, referral sources and their influencers.

If you are not blogging as a lawyer or not getting getting your niche focused lawyers out their blogging as a law firm, you’re missing out on an opportunity to establish trust.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Terry Johnston

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