As participation in online marketing continues to grow, and as more people declare themselves “experts” to their audience, bad ideas, misconceptions, and just plain stinkin’ thinkin’ proliferate. While such ill-conceived thinking can be problematic for consumers, these poorly conceived and misunderstood areas can be a great opportunity for you to enhance your reputation management techniques – as long as those bad ideas are not yours!
When you realize that the majority of self-proclaimed “experts” online deal in little more than clichés, platitudes, and simplistic solutions, the potential for making a real difference in the lives of your audience will easily double or triple.
In other words, by debunking popular misconceptions, errors in judgment, and poorly explained answers to common questions, you will build your reputation as an expert in your field. And, as your reputation grows, so will your audience, your subscriber list, your list of leads, and your conversions!
Build and Protect Your Online Reputation
In many ways, your online reputation is your greatest asset. In fact, it represents the unified mental construct everyone who “meets” you online shares about you; a mental image of who you are and what you have to offer.
Of course, the clearer that image is, the stronger their perception of you and the more valuable you become to them.
This makes building, protecting, and managing your online reputation of paramount importance for both the short- and long-term success of your business.
According to an article at Entrepreneur.com, there are threes areas of focus for creating a positive online presence – and keeping it intact:
Create great content – The paradoxical nature of content creation as it relates to online marketing is that, while you’re creating content with the hope that it will eventually help convert, the best content is rarely created with that in mind. Keep in mind that consumers today are pretty savvy and expect a certain level of effort to be put into any content they consume, especially if it’s designed to turn them into paying customers.
Social media presence – It’s hard, if not impossible, for your audience to care about your social media accounts if you’re not using them. So, if you want to turn your business into an online authority, you’ll need to be ahead of your competition when it comes to social. That means having a consistent posting schedule, using a variety of different social media platforms and, most importantly, actually engaging with your audience.
Testimonials, reviews, and perceptions – Known as “social proof”, what others think of you will make a huge impression on your audience and potential clients. Digital word of mouth is one of the most persuasive forms of marketing to the modern consumer, and it tends to be a massive aspect of the decision-making process for the average person because people trust other people. And, if an unbiased third party tells someone your business is not to be trusted, then you’d better believe people are going to have some reservations. Then again, a few positive reviews can lead to increased engagement (at worst) and inspire more conversions (at best).
Ultimately, the key is understanding how to be successful in leveraging the tools and techniques of reputation management to effectively build your online reputation, enabling you to meet your business goals.
With more than 25 years of experience in the trade, Ted can offer you valuable reputation management tips as your business consultant. Simply… Contact TD Fall today.
