There are those in every profession who will be tempted to give in to ’the dark side’ and let the worst of their natures rule over them. My trade - that of online reputation managers (ORMs for short) - is no exception. In fact, and due to the sensitive nature of our work, I would argue that when we do give in, we do so at a greater risk to ourselves and the general public than say your average web developer, receptionist or window cleaner. As it happens, the ‘dark knights’ and ‘dark ladies’ of ORM are quickly building a reputation for themselves as sinister New Labour-style spin doctors too ready to make empty promises, manipulate people and information and overcharge their customers. 

To assist everyone in separating the wheat from the chaff, I would like to deal here with some of the ’sins’ that those lost souls engage in and which are anathema to the hard-working, ethically-bound ORMs who constitute the vast majority of the profession. Please feel free to add a few suggestions of your own in the comments section.  

Photo Credit: Ron Riccio, Official Star Wars Blog

1. Astroturfing

The Social Media have brought with them a change from the old broadcasting model to peer-to-peer reviews, consumer involvement and an emphasis on authenticity and credibility. We are encouraged to be more honest, to add value without screaming or over-promoting, to socialise and to share. Astroturfing represents a betrayal of all these cherished principles, since it denotes an attempt to cloak an orchestrated PR, political or advertising campaign as spontaneous grassroots behaviour.

We ORM pros can take some comfort from the fact that astroturfing was ‘invented’ by political advisors well before the advent of the internet era. Nowadays, and in the highly connected world in which we live, almost every serious attempt at astroturfing is a media time-bomb waiting to explode. Unless the campaign truly catches on and it does paradoxically end up becoming grassroots, that is…                                                  

2. Sock Puppetry

Closely related to Astroturfing, sock puppetry refers to the attempt by an online individual to adopt a fake persona with the purpose of misleading and deceiving for his benefit or that of his cause (in the case of ORMs logically for the benefit of their clients).

I get the distinct impression that this is more extended a practice that we care to admit. It is next to impossible to tell if a participant in a forum or review site is genuine, even in the case of the ‘strawmen sockpuppets’ who want to covertly discredit the point of view they seem to be defending. Luckily technology is coming to the rescue, since participation in the social media is becoming an increasingly integrated experience where our multarious accounts are linked and synched in a way that makes this type of behaviour more easily detectable. Still, one to watch out for.

3. Flogging

Contrary to popular opinion, flogging – fake blogs ghostwritten in this case by ORMs – are not often the result of a concerted attempt to manipulate but the outcome of the lack of time, focus and talent on behalf of some of our clients. Cogent, clear and compelling writing is not a skill that abounds in some quarters, and we ORMs are regularly under pressure ‘to contribute’ following a previously established editorial line, usually (though by no means always) with a promotional or advertorial tone.

Once more, the clumsiest cases of flogging are well documented, and many an unsuspecting reader has ended up nonplussed after discovering that big business was behind some of the more seemingly credible blogs out there. And yet, how many flogs or half-flogs populate the web? I dare not speculate about it. London ORM Nancy Williams from Tiger Two Ltd has advocated a disclaimer/disclosure policy in all blogs not personally or wholly written by their authors to disambiguate them from truly personal blogs, an approach I find very difficult to disagree with. VIP bloggers take heed!

4. Viral Marketing (broken promises thereof)

Even in the integrated digital agencies I have argued for elsewhere, it is usually online strategists and ORMs who end up bearing the bulk of so-called viral marketing campaigns. Viral marketing has quickly become the ‘Holy Grail’ of marketeers, sellers and resellers. And below-the-par agencies have been quick to capitalize on this trend and showcase themselves as experts in the scurrilous art of ‘word of mouth on steroids’.

Neither them nor their unsuspecting clients are obviously familiar with the best literature in the business. For as online marketing and PR guru David Meerman Scott affirms in his essential e-book on the topic: ’It is virtually impossible to create a Web marketing program that is guaranteed to go viral; it requires a huge amount of luck and timing’. And as we guileless, tested pros both sides of the Atlantic know from painful experience, this axiom is simply true.

This does emphatically NOT mean that one cannot in principle set in motion a sensible, well-thought-out online social media/marketing strategy that could potentially go viral but rather than noone – no matter how convincingly they may claim otherwise -can guarantee for a campaign to go viral in the first place. In plain English: purchasing an off-the-shelf viral marketing/social media campaign combo is not the smartest of moves. Look around and it will take you no time to find many a sad marketeer full of melancholy out of the broken promises that shoud-know-better ORMs and digital strategist made in very rash, disingenious and downright foolish moments.

Just as there are dark practitioners out there, we are lucky to have in our midst Master Jedis of online strategy who achieve remarkable successes by disciplining their claims, fine-tuning their abilities and constantly upgrading their skills without compromising their principles or selling their souls to Mammon. There is always a fine line between honesty and deception, and we ORMs are challenged on the ethical front more than we care to admit. What a relief it is to know that, more sooner than later, those colleagues who truly have their clients’ best interest at heart succeed in the online medium by upholding the best practices and principles.

© Oscar Del Santo for THE ONLINE STRATEGIST, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: astroturfing, flogging, online reputation, ORM, sock puppetry, Viral Marketing