I brought up the term Second Opinion Marketing when I was chatting with Debbie Weil at Ad Tech Beijing. I don’t like name “name,” but this “Second Opinion Marketing” thing has been buzzing in my head for quite a while.

I google a lot in my everyday work but never hit the “I’m feeling lucky” button. Don’t you? Google gives us the best algorithmically relevant search results but leaves the trust of the information undecided. Those carefully optimized contents overwhelm me by the heavily stuffed SERP. I begin to double-source everything that I have found on the web. I need something more other than the search engine. Don’t get me wrong. I like Google and I use it in my everyday work. But I also know, relevance doesn’t mean valid. I need second opinion.

Back to 1999, when Andrew Leonard coined a new term “Open-Source Journalism” on Salon.com, that editorial shed light on the trend of participatory communication. Now 8 years later, the user-generated contents feed us more information than ever before. Say if you search for whatever common term on Google, Wikipedia always on the top position of the SERP; the most “dugg” pages on Digg.com will spread and shape the public opinion. The collective second opinion becomes today’s opinion leader.

If I tell you we are living in the age of excessive information, it sounds very cliché. But don’t you see the customers’ skepticism towards authenticity has increased over time when the number of flyers and spoilers keep growing and growing? This is the problem of excessive and over exaggerated information. Our customers begin to reconcile their doubt with the like-mind peers; seek second opinion from reviews, peer-experiences, message threads of a forum, blog posts, etc. All these open up a second opinion channel.

Smart marketers should think along the line, find way to integrate trust into the marketing plot that influences customers’ consideration set. I am not saying to manipulate second opinion which won’t be possible nor ethical. Just have something like a corporate blog that invites your customers to participate, let the customers who do the talking for you and for your product, includes the customers’ views and critiques in your product cycle. Let the second opinion to create buzz for you. In return, you gain trust and loyalty, then business will come after.

Here are some product blog sites for your inspiration:

• Nike Blog
• Dell Blog
• GM Blog
• Motorola Blog

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