3 Reputation Management Tips for Business Executives

In toady’s digital landscape, people discuss and interact with brands more than ever. How you are viewed not only affects business performance but also affects the nature of future opportunities. Actively managing your reputation is critical to maintaining and enhancing your digital credibility. Here are 3 reputation management tips for business executives.

3 Reputation Management Tips for Business Executives

1. Build Your Executive Brand

Reputation Management Tips for Business ExecutivesIndividuals can easily share opinions about you, your business, and your products or services. If you don’t say something about yourself and amplify positive content, you run the risk of letting others define your brand for you.

Manage your reputation by defining your executive brand, conveying your attributes, and providing value. You can build a strong reputation in the following ways:

Company Website: Your company website is often a consumer’s first point of contact with your brand online.  Make sure you have a professional photo and bio on your company website that communicates who you are.

Personal BlogCreating quality content is a great way to enhance your credibility. A solid SEO strategy can allow you the opportunity to rank for your name. Showcase the value of your brand by sharing information that your customers and prospects need. Use blogging as a tool to position yourself as a thought-leader by sharing your expertise and insight.

LinkedInA complete LinkedIn profile is a necessity for any business executive. Actively participate on the platform by sharing regularly. Update your status. Join and actively participate in groups. Collect recommendations and endorsements to build trust.

Wikipedia: Having a Wikipedia page is extremely beneficial since Wikipedia pages often rank highly in search engine results. Be sure to monitor the page for accuracy and make updates when needed.

Media RelationshipsSeek out opportunities for media coverage. This can include news articles, press releases, interviews, and mentions on blogs.

DBI TIP: Executives at leading brands can fall victim to online impersonators. Link to your social profiles on your website and in news releases. Wherever possible, seek to achieve a verified account.

 

SEE ALSO: How to Build Your Executive Brand

2. Monitor Your Brand Regularly

In order to manage your reputation, you must know how your brand is viewed and what is being said about you online. You want to learn

  • how are you perceived
  • how your company is perceived
  • what key audiences are saying about your brand
  • where people are talking about your brand

Examine what kind of content appears on search engine results pages, review sites, and social networks when your brand name is being searched.

Monitor Social: Practice social listening to understand the conversations taking place on social networks. Track mentions and measure sentiment. Try using Hootsuite or Mention.

Monitor Reviews and Ratings: While much chatter occurs about brands on social media, it isn’t the only place for consumers to voice their opinions online. Be sure to search review sites and forums.

Monitor Search Engine Results: Sign up for free Google Alerts to monitor the web. Set alerts for both your name and your business name. You can also set options for language, region, source, and frequency.

3. Have an Action Plan for Addressing Negative Content

Negative content can be severely damaging to your business and personal perception. To effectively manage your reputation, you must have an action plan for addressing negative content. You want to take a proactive approach and have a dedicated strategy for protecting your brand against content that can be harmful to your credibility.

Negative mentions, reviews, media coverage, and hate sites all threaten credibility. Here are a few tips for addressing criticism:

  1. Address negative content as soon as possible.
  2. Release a statement to respond to opinions expressed in negative media coverage.
  3. Respond promptly, politely and professionally to disgruntled customers or employees.
  4. Be transparent. Do not mislead your audience or mismanage expectations.
  5. Post moderation guidelines for your social communities and blog comments if you practice the removal of offensive posts.

These 3 tips will help you successfully manage your brand reputation by setting an effective strategy in place. Establish your executive brand, monitor your brand perception, and set guidelines for handling negative content.

 

Reputation Management Tips for Business Executives

Written by
Juntae DeLane

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