If you don't manage your Online Reputation, someone else might!

Your Company's Reputation is one of its most prised assets. Brands are built on positive reputations.

What can take years of hard work to develop and nurture can be reduced to almost nothing in seconds with the wrong word, comment or negative media coverage.  The same can be said of any personal reputation. Personal Reputation Management and Business Reputation Management are now essential tools in the Brand Directors arsenal to defend and advance their business and its key people.

In recent surveys, searching for other people online in relation to a your day to day business shows that between 60-80% of people have looked up someone else online in relation to a commercial deal in the last 30 days. This could be in relation to an interview, a supplier, a joint venture/business partnership or even a new client. The list goes on. What is known is that what they find affects their perceptions, which has a direct effect any decisions that are made.

Any negative comments, regardless of factual validity can have a massive adverse effect on your businesses successes and your personal success.

With the unprecedented rise of high profile social media platforms and bloggers, the introduction of the anonymous citizen journalist has led to an increasing about of negative, opinionated and often factually incorrect information being published on the internet. Upset customers, disgruntled employees and even devious competitors can say anything they like in the belief that they can’t be traced.

Many companies, business owners, directors and key people within these businesses are actively engaged in Reputation Management campaigns to ensure that a balanced, fair and accurate perception is being given of them online. Reputation Management and Reputation Monitoring are very important to challenging unfair or inaccurate comments made online.

Developing an effective Online Reputation Management strategy is a must have part of the overall brand and marketing planning to drive business success. Leaving it to chance of the media or online community to ‘pick up’ on the good work you are doing is simply not an option you can afford to take anymore if you want to effectively drive your business forward in today’s tough and competitive business environment.

Aligning your business online reputation along side developing your main peoples personal branding allows you to leverage from both campaigns to fully propel the most positive perception available.

Having a distinct and separate personal branding plan along side your reputation management plan, whilst taking more time and effort, will pay dividends with an increased positive perceptions online.

When starting a personal branding campaign, it’s worth starting with a single ‘face of the company’ and work on developing their personal brand. Careful consideration needs to be given to who you choose, as they need to be willing to step into the media spotlight and comfortable with it. Media training and a professionally produced media pack are worth while investments to maximise the investment made. Sometimes the principle of the business isn’t the most media friendly, however if they want the media coverage, it can be difficult to help them see that another may be the better choice.

Reputation Management of the Business or the individual should be taken lightly and needs a focused, professional reputation management plan to be as effective as it can be.