As internet offense (hacking), outpaces internet defence, our personal brand reputation and online reputation management (ORM) is more vulnerable than ever, and is going to take a front seat in 2016. For the serious public figure, personal brand, consultant, C-executive, there are experts in the field of internet reputation management services. Your Email can be hacked, online PR can go horribly wrong and negative comments can go viral on social media.
There are also a lot of best practices to keep in mind, personal branding advice, some which we will deal in the this article. As a leader, as an influencer, or as a business person with a personal brand, your online reputation is important and this is only going to become more prevalent. So what can you do? Take measures, monitor mentions with software, consider experts to do reverse SEO to correct your search engine reputation management (SERM).
Google Plus
Apart from being an SEO goldmine, your Google Plus will get a lot of views. This is because Google gives priority to this network for searches. Have an identity there with links to the landing pages that truly promote the best of your content, social media and press releases.
For reputation management professionally, most of us will search high-profile individuals on LinkedIn, so make sure your profile is optimized there. An important aspect of your LinkedIn, are the pulse articles that show at the top of the profile. Make sure you have some original content that directly relates to your target audience, their interests and your unique selling point (USP).
Increasingly as social media become used more for search, make sure that you have boards on Pinterest that relates to your branding. With mobile audiences and mobile searches increasing, think about your visual marketing of your personal brand. If the consumers in your industry, have a strong component female <40 demographic, optimizing your branding here is smart.
Monitor your Search Results
Do monthly audits and Google your name, your company, keywords relating to your brand on a regular basis. This is important to screen for any mentions that are neutral or negative and not positive. You want to maximize the positive mentions, while minimizing the others. This is vigilant branding and includes Google auto-suggest function.
Viral Marketing Strategy
Incorporate in your branding marketing plan, strategies that enable you to extend your reach in a positive way. Utilize employee driven content (EDC) and user-generated content (UGC) as part of your content marketing strategy. Did you get a positive testimonial, politely ask your brand advocate or satisfied customer to share it via social media. Get customers to share positive reviews and experiences. Conduct UGC campaigns on new channels that have fresh audiences that might become brand advocates. The best viral marketing strategy for your brand, is the creation of authentic and regular video content. YouTube is recognized as the 2nd biggest search engine.
About.Me
About.Me is an exciting personal branding opportunity as you can link your landing pages, your social media channels and have a positive visual impression on your audience. Your profile on about.me, will also generate a bit of daily traffic to your personal website, LinkedIn profile and Twitter. For B2B, if you are a consultant or have business partners who might be searching you, this is a good idea.
Have a Blog
Having a voice online for any influencer, consultant, CEO or visionary has tremendous personal branding value. Become an knowledge authority, an industry advocate and develop more credibility, trust-worthiness and a personal connection with your audience through a blog. Show your human side, as well as demonstrating your knowledge of leading practices in your industry. Embed your videos linked from YouTube on your blog, and make sure it’s responsive to mobile viewing.
Be Seen
To have an accessible authentic influence in your industry, don’t be afraid to have a visible presence. This not only includes video content strategy & guest blogging, but to do webinars, AMAs on Reddit, answer questions on Quora, do a Blab.im or Periscope live-streaming event. Think as a digital marketer would, be personable, try to do a Ted talk on a topic you are an expert in, in your respective field. The more positive personal presence you have online, the more immune your personal brand will be to negative reviews and PR mishaps. Demonstrate your passion for what you do, and your interest in improving the world. People identify with people they are familiar with, putting a name to a face, to a voice and to an area of expertise.
Think SEO
For every social profile, remember that specific keywords that are viewable in the public view of your profile, will boost your rank in Google. Building keywords and managing them is one of the most important things to do when you’re thinking SEO. Use Linkio.com to manage the data of short-tail and long-tail keywords and to rank better online. Consider that if your headers, banners and keywords in your profiles are done right, this will generate a steady stream of sustained inbound lead generation to your website, your personal brand and your ability to influence those in your industry and different personas in your target audience. Reputation management is intrinsically linked then with SEO, social media, content marketing, software tools, and your own knowledge of your industry and its associated keywords.