3 Ways Marketers Can Manage Their Online Reputation
May 14, 2010 by Susan White
There are various ways to market on the Internet; it’s a playground that offers a multitude of opportunities for those who know how to take advantage of them; and it allows you to boost your business in a shorter time and more cost-effectively than using traditional ways. But on the downside, Internet marketing could earn you a bad reputation, and on the web which has an eternal memory, it’s pretty hard to wipe out anything negative completely, especially after the news has gone viral. So if you’re looking to manage your online reputation, here are a few things you could to watch your back:
• Use online tools to monitor your brand: There are various tools (many of which are free), that allow you to monitor what people are saying about you on the web. The very mention of your brand name or company name sets off an alert which is then routed to your email. Google Alerts and Technorati are two such tools – you can set your preferences as to which kind of sites to search and how often alerts are to be mailed to you, daily or weekly. Technorati allows you to keep track of what the blogs are saying about your brand, and since blogs are people’s personal ranting spaces, you get to know if there’s anything negative being said as soon as possible.
• Address any negative issue immediately: Once you know that people are saying about you, you can respond accordingly. If it’s negative, you must make amends at the earliest; only then is it possible to limit the damage that negative news can cause your brand. Whatever is said online, whether it’s good or bad, spreads faster than wildfire. And when it’s bad news, you can bet that it’s going to be carried far and wide, and in the shortest time possible. If the news is untrue, then you must address the problem through your blog or social media page and issue a clarification that is satisfactory. If it’s true and you’re at fault, the best way to regain your reputation is an unconditional apology – that works like nothing else.
• Avoid controversy: Although we’ve heard that any kind of publicity, negative or positive, is good, this pertains only to show business where celebrities and wannabes just want their name in the news. When it comes to marketing online, your reputation must be impeccable. This means that it’s best to toe the line and avoid controversy as much as possible. And to this end, you need to do all you can to keep your commitments, to never take customers for a ride, and to promise only what you can deliver. When you’re true to your word, people are more likely to believe that your products and services are of good quality.
Your online reputation is very important, and if you don’t manage it effectively, you could end up losing the edge that online promotion offers.
This article is contributed by Susan White, who regularly writes on the subject of High Speed Internet Service. She invites your questions, comments at her email address: susan.white33@gmail.com.
