Protect your Online Brand Reputation

With social media use on the rise and with many businesses jumping on board, the need to have strategies in place to protect your online brand management and online reputation management is critical.

Many businesses are becoming aware of the fact that having an online presence bring rewards and risks. Often it seems once something has happened to damage their reputation they then realise the importance of protecting their business online. But how do we protect our brand online?

Protecting your Brand

• Monitor staff usage – protecting the business brand from staff that are using social media sites. Educate your staff about the impact there online activity can have on your business, they may inadvertently link your business to their social networks and this may be highly inappropriate. Have a company policy around online activity and the use of your business name and brand by your staff.
• What is being said about you – You also need to monitor what is being said about your company in social media environments. Setting up your own business profiles can give you and your business the advantage of controlling what is published and what is not.
• Google yourself – using Google search your brand and business and stay up to date with any issues. Always deal with problems as they arise and put right any wrongs and this will hopefully appear online also. Staff should have protocols for responding to online issues and should respond helpfully and respectfully on your behalf.

It is far easier to protect your brand than to try and recover from a poor online brand image. Put a business plan in place and ensure all staff are up to date with your company policy around Online Reputation Management. Staying up to date and up to speed with your online image should be top priority to ensure your brand is protected.