Branding & Reputation Management

A brand is what someone associates with something else.

• What do people associate with you? Is it positive?
• What is your company trying to project?
• Who are you in the minds of your audience?

I just attended an online seminar, a Twebinar titled, “Who Owns Your Brand?” This was the second of a Summer Series on Social Media by Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan on Twitter).

Below are my top four nuggets from the Twebinar and my “take” on the importance of branding and reputation management.

Nugget 1: Social Media is like the Gutenberg Press for the Bible.

The Bible was once owned by the church. The people didn’t have access. Reading and interpretation of the Bible was controlled. The Gutenberg Press put the Bible into the hands of the people. It became cheap enough for them to have their own Bibles. Social Media and blogging have paralleled the power of information. Companies used to own and control their message. The Internet and blogging has redistributed control. We, the people, now have access – a voice.

The voice is growing. A large number of blogs are opinion-based. Companies don’t have to push into the conversation. Customers do it for them. When companies push too hard, we get our feathers ruffled and share our opinions. The printing presses for consumer sentiment have been opened!

Blogging is more powerful than the water cooler!

Nugget 2: No one really owns their brand!

A component of every company’s brand is created by us, the people, the marketplace. No company in particular owns it. Maggie Fox (@maggiefox) of Social Media Group used the term, “co-creation.” If a company doesn’t create their brand, they can’t own it. Companies create the logo, tagline and own the trademark. Consumers, however, carry the brand forward.

We buy into your brand. When we are sold out, we spend money on you and tell others how great you are. When you disappoint us, when we close our wallets and tell others about our poor experiences.

Mike Manuel of Voce (@mmanuel on Twitter) talked about emotions a brand delivers. Brand is very much defined as the emotion it elicits. Recent emerging companies share their brand with customers. Association with a brand is often based on feeling. One example given in the Twebinar was Starbucks.

“If they don’t feel that feeling, then they are not going to buy $4 cup of coffee.”

Chris Heuer of the Social Media Club (@chrisheurer on Twitter) explained that brand is “a mythical concept.” No one really owns the brand, but they can destroy the brand experience. Companies need to make decisions and ensure people are hired that understand the company’s values. He went on to explain that “brands with the best storytellers win.” Individual conversations carry the brand forward. The brand lives where people are talking.

The following is a tweet from a viewer who captured sentiment by Richard Binhammer of Dell, Inc.

@heidimiller: Nugget from @richardatdell: “what we own is our actions based on what we hear from [consumers]” #tweb2

Mr. Binhammer went on to explain that ultimately we will be judged on our actions. Consumers own the corporate reputation.

Nugget 3: Walk your talk. We are going to talk…and possibly walk, away.

Walk the talk! You never own a brand, you loose it.

@sallyfalkow summarized this nugget so well:

“I create the brand from what I experience, it’s collaborative. You have to perform and I experience it. But I”m going to spread the word, good or bad. Human nature is to spread more bad than good. The person across the street might have a blog, and Lord knows where it goes from there.”

Negative publicity can be a theater. Poor experiences become the topics of scenes in a drama. The consumer becomes a scriptwriter. They post blog comments and YouTube videos. Remember hearing about and watching the couch-sleeping Comcast technician?

Twebinar discussion covered best practices for publishing a brand and use of Social Media. Best practices? Honestly, I’m surprised at how many people don’t even bother with common courtesy or decency.

• We watch what you say on social networking sites.
• We make judgments about your company when key employees drop the fbomb on FaceBook or Twitter.
• We judge your company, and walk away.

I currently pay for an annual service I will not renew because of employee conduct. Is the service poor? Not at all! I don’t want to put my money into the payroll of employees who are lewd, demonstrate blatant disregard for others, with management who thinks their rants are “humorous.”

Personal actions affect a company’s brand. You are accountable. If you don’t walk your talk, we’ll walk.

Nugget 4: Set up your ego alerts!

Listen, monitor, and join the conversation. Are you internally monitoring conversations? What is being said about you? Your ego and your brand are on the line!

Brand management involves listening to what is being said about your company. We now have the tools to figure out what is being said. You have no excuse for not knowing online sentiment. Here are two easy ways to monitor what’s being said about you on Twitter:

1. Setup TweetBeep for your name and company brand.
2. Search Twitter’s search engine (previously known as Summize):

Engaging others is push and pull. Communication is two-way. Listening to what is being said is the first step in reputation management. Gauge the input. Determine if criticism is legitimate. Respond accordingly.

Rohit Bhargava (@rohitbhargava on Twitter) encouraged companies to be part of the conversation and share control. It doesn’t mean you are giving up control. He said, “It’s not a defeatist attitude.”

The Formula for a Successful Brand

Too often, brand engagement becomes a customer service issue. Amazon calls Customer Service Reps “Wish Granters.” Developing a successful brand doesn’t involve waving a magic wand, and it’s not rocket science. The formula for a successful brand is simple:

Brand = Identity + Experience + Reputation

Companies who don’t have a positive identity, customer experience or reputation should heed the call. Maybe they should pick up their Bible and say a little prayer!

Tap into Social Media. It’s a powerful outlet that can light the world on fire or turn out the lights for your brand.

Did you sense the adrenaline of the conversations on Twitter?

Did you tweet and follow hashmarks for “#tweb” or “#tweb2″ on Summize?

On June 26, 2008, people interested in Social Media participated in a global conference of taped video interviews, live audio commentary by Chris Brogan (shown right), while texting their comments and perceptions into Twitter. The free event was so popular that it was live rebroadcast three hours later.

“Social Media Game Changer” was the first of a summer series. Visit Twebinar to learn more and decided if you want to join upcoming conversations.

Social Media Lingo

Social Media lingo may sound like Morse code or a cult. Every industry has its terms, its inside lingo. Learning a foreign language is similar. You don’t have to become fluent to communicate. Social Media lingo is like the dictionary. Terms are defined by our usage.

Twitter, Plurk, BriteKite, FriendFeed, FaceBook might sound like foreign countries, but if you visit and get to know the people, you’ll learn the dialect. Join the conversation; you’ll pick up the jargon. You’ll learn enough to relate and engage. There’s no secret handshake.

Converse – Talk the Talk

Social Media is a conversation that takes place online, every second, on multiple platforms – blogs, forums, short instant messaging (SMS), website reviews, etc.

“Social Media Game Changer” (topic of the first Twebinar) means the rules and players have changed in the game of marketing. You and I as customers are marketers each time we write a review, share an opinion, recommend a product, link to a cool website or complain about a customer service rep. We’re talking online every second, which means we are “marketing” continually.

Blogging and getting involved in Social Media is more than cool, hip or cultist. It’s ESSENTIAL. Businesses must talk with customers and encourage two-way conversation. Marketing is about the conversation and not about pushing a message, aka “Conversational Marketing.”

The Twebinar emphasized how the world can come together and talk, in-sync yet with many simultaneous conversations. I was monitoring Twittervision (server was down as of this post) which shows a global map with tweets in real-time. Imagine a birds-eye view of Twitter discussions, tweets. Keep this visual while thinking about the global power of Social Media.

People are talking, sometimes about you! Get in there and join the conversation.

Engage – Walk the Talk

Talk can be cheap. We, the people, see through razzle dazzle marketing ploys. You need to be real, open, honest and…walk the talk. Put feet to your message and engage.

Participate in your community. This doesn’t mean writing a check to plant trees in a park. Engaging in the conversation means getting involved online, responding to concerns, thanking people for testimonials, sharing tips and best practices.

Engagement is true interactive marketing. It’s building relationships.

Listen – Hear What Is Being Said

The first step is to really hear what is being said. Listen! Listen!

Q. What is one of the most aggravating things about conversation?
A. When people don’t listen to you.

Chris Brogan, while moderating the Twebinar, said:

“Starting conversations means listening. We have two ears, one mouth.”
In the old days we used to yell at our TV. Now…customers are not going to bring that conversation to your doorstep.

You need to be able to listen to lots of channels.

If you are going to do business in social media, [listening] is very important.”

Listen to Understand

Stephen Covey, in “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” mentions that listening to understand what someone means is key to communication. We too often listen “out our of our own autobiography.” How many times do you tell a story and have someone respond with their own story or oneupmanship – my fish is bigger? Or while the other person is talking, you are thinking about what you’re going to say next? BUSTED!

“You” is the most important word in the English Language.

“I” is the least important.

Are you really listening? Think about this…

We go to school to learn to write, to express ourselves, to learn effective public speaking. But, how many of us took a class in “Listening 101” to graduate?

Listening is the Game – Changing Rule

Is listening really so revolutionary? No! However, Social Media is forcing companies to change their game and actually listen. Those who remain deaf will fail.

Shift your focus. Follow the rules of the game. Start listening today!

Social Media Case Study

MyStarbucks

Many successful case studies for the effectiveness of Social Media were discussed at the Twebinar. MyStarbucksIdea.com was mentioned. Starbucks made headlines when they launched this site to “outsource parts of their marketing” to we, the people. Imagine how many Starbucks groupies have shared their opinions on how to enhance their daily ritual!

You may think, “Starbucks is one of the big dogs. They can afford anything.” What if you are game publisher?

SmartKit – Brain Gym & Puzzle Playground

Lee Odden shared how TopRank Online Marketing helped a client who publishes games, SmartKit, engage a community around their blog. One goal was to get enough traffic for an advertising model. TopRank created communities for SmartKit on Twitter and Facebook as communication channels. Engagement on FaceBook included publishing a leader board. (We all know how much people want to keep score. ) The SmartKit blog went from approx. 1,000 visitors/month to 268,000/month. (Hope I got those numbers correct).

Take-away: Social Media is like SmartKit’s Twitter bio: “a fresh daily supply of captivating puzzles to exercise and cross train your brain.”

Power of People Marketing

Social Media is not about printing a brochure, designing a website, or airing a radio spot. It’s about two-way communication.

People Talk. Do you listen?

And the saying goes…

“God gave us two ears and one mouth, so we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

The rules of the game have changed. It’s your choice on how you play the game.

Loosers: Put in earplugs and ignore.

Winners: Listen, ask questions, build relationships and engage.

Let your customers reduce your marketing and R&D budgets and become part of your team.

This article (written by a man) shows Women of Search, Women of Design, Women of the Web, Women of Business. Thanks, Jimmy! I don’t know you but already luv you!

Tamar Wienberg took this HOT on Sphinn, and the relevance of outstanding Women on the Web reaches past the Sphinn collective. The article shows how women are influencing talk on the Web. SEO and Social Media are gaining balanced perspectives as more women become active, especially in the search marketing industry.

Congratulations to Rebecca Kelly of SEOmoz for being featured in this article. There’s a nice mention of SEO Chicks, for which Jane Copeland is a contributor. Other women associated with SEOmoz are mentioned, Tamar Weinberg and Jill Whalen. Rand commented that SEOmoz is also co-woman-owned (by Gillian Muessig) and gives credit to our beloved Sarah Bird. Go ladies of SEOmoz!

Don’t know of SEOmoz? Learn about SEO tools, guides, custom Q & A, marketplace and more for SEO/SEM professionals. There is a lot of stuff here for guys, too!

Women Conversationalists

What about the stereotypes that women are better at communication skills and men are better at tech skills? Guys dominated early Flash Forward and Web-related conferences. Women are better conversationalists, in general. Have you noticed more and more women at search conferences the past few years? Why?

Does anyone have any stats about women and the Internet? Women in SEO?

The 100 Blogs article showcasing women on the Web demonstrates that women are gaining influence. Is this because women are more conversational? More relational? Online marketing is more about conversation than pushing a message. Does this open the door to allow more women to pursue careers in search marketing and SEO?

Online Relationships

I found Rebecca’s previous SEOmoz post: All The Female Bloggers Say Heyyyy!…Hello? Ladies? Read it!

Are women better at “talking” online?

It’s fun to go back and read about Rebecca’s tomboyhood. I relate and wonder how many other women in this industry came from backgrounds that were full of more boys than girls, lizards, football, mud, snakes, climbing trees, action-packed movies… Many women of all types are very comfortable in this male-dominated industry.

It appears, however, that men dominate the conversation. But is this changing?

I wrote a (not serious) post, Is Twitter Biased to Men?, which was the result of jesting with fellow Twitterer, Brian Carter. This post has a link to, Top Twitter Users Streamgraph, which shows a lot more men are online, at least micro-blogging online with Twitter.

Brian previously posted an audio explaining he was following over 800 people on Twitter. A fun discussion went HOT on Sphinn, and Michelle Robbins, Editor of Search Engine Land, made some interesting observations:

1. Size matters to men.
2. Relationships matter to women.

All joking aside… Women communicate on a relational level. The Web is about relationships. Heck, link building is one of the key factors to building trust and search engine ranking – a website’s relationships to other sites. Does that open the door for women to be better link builders, to be better at SEO and conversation?

One week before the Women of the Web article, I learned of Dazzlin Donna and her SEO Scoop blog. Her conversational style is a “must read” for men and women who want to keep up with SEO.

Search marketing brings together various strengths and abilities by men, women, techies, designers, writers and marketers. Congratulations to the women who are making an influence and bringing balance to a once male-dominated industry! Thank you to the men for embracing us as well!

There’s no glass ceiling online!