On Monday I got a comment posted to another blog I write on. The comment:

Has anyone out there heard about WideCircles.com. It seems like a way better service then regular pay per click. Apparently they are using refering websites ( forums, blogs, wiki, etc. ) and have a viral word of mouth distributed approach to it which is engaging rather ther then interrupting customers. My friend told me he got over 500 visits from single post which cost him around $0.40c, within a few days. I am going to give them a try today . In case you are intrested here is it. http://widecircles.com?imt=3

And then I got another. And then another. And then another. Inside one minute I got 5 of them. Then, I started getting them on this blog. Ah, comment spam. Someone else out there got themselves a blog comment spam program and is out to make themselves infamous.

For kicks I decided to give the site they referenced a look. WideCircles, the source of the blog comment spam, coins themselves a viral marketing company. According to their cover story:

WideCircles represents relevant, distributed, highly targeted and efficient internet word of mouth marketing using entertaining or informative messages that are designed to be passed along in an exponential fashion. Utilizing global human publishing power combined with our unique computer software algorithms and systems we can track and deliver large amounts of relevant internet traffic to your website quickly and help with your SEO process by building intelligent links.

What it really means: WideCircles crack team of ignorant spammers will ruin your company’s reputation online—just as soon as they get done ruining their own.

Marketers spend great amounts of time and large sums of money ensuring their brand is perceived in the correct light.  Surprisingly, few practice any type of reputation management online.

If you aren’t familiar with it, online reputation management involves being aware of, and participating in, the perception of one’s brand online.  Three factors which have propelled online reputation management to the forefront of digital marketers’ minds:

1. The power of search engines as an efficient way to research companies, their products and services
2. Search engine’s affinity for user generated content, and
3. The increasing amount of confidence consumers pus on the opinion voiced by other consumers, whether they know them or not.

The power of consumer opinion

While the first two points above are largely accepted, the third—the amount of confidence consumer put in the opinion of other consumers online—is both powerful and highly relevant.  An October 2007 Nielsen survey (Trust in Advertising - a global Nielsen consumer report) concludes that “consumers around the world still place their highest levels of trust in other consumers.”  Included in the studies breadth of platforms and sources were:

• Ads before movies
• Brand Sponsorship
• Brand websites
• Consumer options posted online
• Email [the consumer] signed up for
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Online banner ads
• Radio
• Recommendations from consumers
• Search engine ads
• Text ads on mobile phones
• TV

“Recommendations from consumers” topped the survey with 78% of respondents indicating “they trusted - either completely or somewhat - the recommendation of other consumers.”  How all platforms and sources fared can be seen in the chart below.

Clearly monitoring how your brand is being perceived (and participating in that perception) is valuable to any organization. Depending on your need, online reputation management can be handled in house or a digital marketing firm can be engaged.