In an age of social media, commodity search engines and apps for everything we can think of, in an age charged with reviews and recommendations, entrepreneurs are often under pressure, driven by the machinery of numbers of “likes”, fans or positive recommendations. Thus, they often slip into the idea of whether or not to fuel the thumbs up or recommendation with a little deception, self-inflicted or even using the large click farms that are created for this purpose. Yes, you are indeed reading well and there are companies that are dedicated to artificially promoting posts, products or apps through fake “likes”, reviews or shares. Some even pay to purposely damage competitors with fake, unflattering reviews and testimonials. It’s not uncommon to leak footage from these farms, such as the ones in the video below.
And our clients often ask if we could arrange something like this, or advise on how to achieve a sufficiently positive response. We try to emphatically point out that this path is nothing but a road to hell! Modern systems that monitor Google, Facebook, reviews in commodity search engines or recommendations in app stores are very sophisticated and can detect fraudulent behaviour with ease. Quite often you will see “likes” or other reviews deleted, products blocked from displaying in search engines, online marketing made more expensive, etc.
You can also win fans and positive feedback the legal way – through thoughtful online marketing, working with communities and target audiences, using opinion leaders, engaging content and savvy product and app promotion. It’s no longer the number of responses or fans or reviews that matters, but their quality, weight and credibility. We’ll advise and teach you how to work sensitively with your message, effectively reach your target audience and naturally build your image and brand so that positive reactions find you on their own!