Subscribe
Monday, September 28, 2009
Its not just about your website any more
When entrepreneurs think about building an online image for their company, they typically think in terms of their website and the content they put on it. While my last few posts clearly demonstrate that your website is important, there is so much more to a companies e-image than just what they put on their website.
Your e-image really consists of all of the information that is available when a potential customer or investor searches the Internet for information about your company or your brands. Some of this can be content you still control, like your facebook page, your blog postings, your white papers, your business and web names, your twitter messages as well as the people you friend or follow on various social media sites or link to from your website.
It is important that all of this information helps to build your credibility in the area you are doing business in. On Twitter, for example, you should be following the authorities in your field and should be tweeting on topics that will be of interest to your potential customers and business partners. However, it is important to realize that social media is different than your website and people don't use Twitter or read blogs to be sold something. Instead it is an information resource that connects them to other people. It is much better to use these resources to inform as opposed to using it to sell.
Another important aspect of your e-image is what other people are saying about you online. Tweets, facebook nessages, blog comments, forum postings and product/company review sites all allow people to comment back to and about you. Often a favorable comment from a third party is worth 100 postings from someone in your company but negative comments can be very damaging.
Running away from these public forums is not the best way to control your e-image because if you make someone mad they can post negative things about you even if you are not participating. Instead you should strive to control your online image the same way your image in person:
In today's information driven world people will have lots of place to find out about you, your products and your services. Make sure you provide the information they are looking for even if they are not looking at your website.
Your e-image really consists of all of the information that is available when a potential customer or investor searches the Internet for information about your company or your brands. Some of this can be content you still control, like your facebook page, your blog postings, your white papers, your business and web names, your twitter messages as well as the people you friend or follow on various social media sites or link to from your website.
It is important that all of this information helps to build your credibility in the area you are doing business in. On Twitter, for example, you should be following the authorities in your field and should be tweeting on topics that will be of interest to your potential customers and business partners. However, it is important to realize that social media is different than your website and people don't use Twitter or read blogs to be sold something. Instead it is an information resource that connects them to other people. It is much better to use these resources to inform as opposed to using it to sell.
Another important aspect of your e-image is what other people are saying about you online. Tweets, facebook nessages, blog comments, forum postings and product/company review sites all allow people to comment back to and about you. Often a favorable comment from a third party is worth 100 postings from someone in your company but negative comments can be very damaging.
Running away from these public forums is not the best way to control your e-image because if you make someone mad they can post negative things about you even if you are not participating. Instead you should strive to control your online image the same way your image in person:
- Provide a good product or service
- Provide good customer service
- Respond to emails promptly
- Clearly state and honor your terms of service or return policies
- Always be courteous
In today's information driven world people will have lots of place to find out about you, your products and your services. Make sure you provide the information they are looking for even if they are not looking at your website.
Labels: brand, eimage, social media
