Although this is applied to brands, I figure the same could be applied personally. The internet is rightly orientated to openess and transparency. More and more brands know this, more and more are acting on this. Yet there are some stragglers who simply don’t step up to this paradigm shift in consumer behaviour and ownership. Nevertheless its important for brands to follow some simple steps….
1) Don’t try to do too much. Focus on the key areas which will help your brand, support its key attributes, and not alienate the audience you have worked all your career to grow. What I mean by this, if its not clear, is start by focusing on the areas you know your consumers will be in and great open avenues direct to your brand from here.
2) Create great content experiences. Content is a really powerful way of creating a stronger brand interaction with your consumers. I believe its alot more valuable than advertising. Deliver great content relevant to your brand, you may be suprised how much content you actually have that people want.
3) Constantly monitor social media. Don’t just dip in and out of social media. Can’t afford a decent monitoring tool? Well, there are plenty out there who are free or will give you a free test so you can see the value yourself. Want some recommendations? contact me.
4) Respond in the right and agreed way. Agree a tone of voice and point of view for your company. Zappos are brilliant at this. Whole Foods are decent at this. Having different people from different parts of the company talking in different ways about the same thing is just going to make your company look slightly dumb. Your point of view and tone of voice should be based on what you have heard from point 3 and what your company stands for.
5) Open yourself up to reviews. Let consumers review everything you do. From first point of contact to delivery. Get them to review your brand logo, your brand identity, your company report, your products, your staff. The more involved you get the consumer, the more you can learn, the more you can improve your reputation.
All in all, it isn’t that difficult to manage your reputation. However, it does take time and you need to make sure you are “always on”. I hope it works out for you.
