Brand reputation: should you choose to be popular or authoritative?
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” (Warren Buffett)
A great quote from a very wise and successful man who has built a steadfast reputation over the years!
Regarding reputation, these are among the questions we are most frequently asked by our customers:
- “How do I build a following and a reputation?”
- “How can I come to be recognized professionally in what I do?”
- “What is the difference between creating content and being recognized as authoritative?”
There are people who have many fans and followers, especially on the web, but are not authentic: they do not put personality into their brand and do not give value to their followers. We can say that they have a wide following because they are “famous” but that they do nothing to interact or contribute to the community that follows them. Their communication is one-way; they write only to get publicity or to satisfy their egos. This is not what we mean by “authority.”
Being authentic and real, creating useful content, being consistent, participating in conversations and giving more than you ask for in return: that’s the right way to start. Yet delivering value without that value being recognized is unfortunately not very useful and can be frustrating.
How to build a good brand reputation online
At this point we want to share with you some considerations that we have learned in the field, which help our customers grow a presence on the web and become known through entertainment, consistency, value, and determination while keeping in mind that in this context, it is important to share ideas and learn from others. In a market full of competition like this one, the key to being chosen is differentiation. For each consideration you will find our advice, from which you can get ideas for improving your brand reputation online:
- Be yourself
When you write on the web, produce content, or participate in conversations on social media or in the articles on your blog, assume a more personal approach to writing. Write as if you’re having a conversation.
Tip: observe and study how successful authors and authoritative figures act and write to find inspiration. Try to figure out the communication strategies they use and to reproduce those that could be effective in your case, being careful not to copy and to remain true to yourself.
- Be more interested in others than yourself
Let it be known that you value others, and that you care about them, taking their problems and their challenges to heart.
Tip: use phrases like “Here’s what I can do to help…” that allow you to create relationships of trust. Share materials, put yourself in the service of others and provide useful and relevant information to help them solve their problems. In doing so, always remind people to follow you on all possible channels.
- Show people glimpses of your personal life
Let others know what you do and what you believe, but also what you like, your favorite places, where you have traveled, and even what books you love.
Tip: be careful when it comes to what and how much your share. Remember that while it is true that the Web is viral and can bring popularity, it is likewise true 
that you cannot erase what you write! So watch out for errors and avoid “epic fails”!
- Know your audience
Do you know anything about the people who follow you? Do you know what matters to them? Are you informed on their demographics and how they think?
Tip: discover what they need, and show them how you can help them. In this way you will create a very strong, interdependent relationship that will ensure that they return to you over and over again.
- Create synergies
Invest time and energy to earn the trust of your followers and communicate with them in real time. Remember to always respond and find ways to create professional as well as personal synergies.
Tip: Be present on social media. Respond to comments and emails that people send you so that they feel that you’re a real person and that your intention is to help them. Doing so will create productive relationships and synergies. Identify people of authority in your field, experts and well-known personalities, and ask to host your articles on their blogs or to be cited for what you do. A little trick to get mentioned for the first time is to ask your mentors or publish an interview made for the occasion.
- Control your humor and your anger
It’s great that you’re funny or, if it is your nature, even a bit irreverent, but be careful not to overdo it with your tone or words just to get attention.
Tip: always be careful what you say and remember that, as mentioned above, you can’t simply delete what you write on the web. One click is all it takes sometimes to start a controversy that could affect your reputation. Always think 10 times before you write and consider all the consequences that your post could generate before publishing it.
- Be consistent and present yourself as who you are
Although we said to watch your temper, remember not to be too stiff. Present yourself as who you are in order to make yourself known sincerely and to truly get to know others. Always stay consistent with the message you want to convey. Do not shift the focus of your message, and let others know what your talents are and what you can do to help them.
Tip: in everything you do remember that others are your wealth, and this is why it is important to know them well. Introduce yourself for who you are and do not ever make a promise that you cannot keep! Honesty always pays off and people remember the promises you make!
- Give and receive
There are many people who are well versed in helping others and contributing, but are not at all at ease in receiving. In relationships there must be duality and your communication cannot be one-way.
Tip: learn to receive and accept advice and feedback from others. This will help you to enrich and improve yourself. Also remember that those who follow you will be delighted to be able to make their contribution: this will make them feel important and bind them to you even more.
- Offer your services and your solutions and look beyond selling
Sell, sell, sell is a sure way to fail, to drive others to stop following you.
Tip: offer your services and advice for the benefit of your audience, not to sell. Your consistency, commitment and values will be rewarded.
Conclusion: online communication is important, but not enough
We all know the importance of having a web presence, taking care of your image in online communication, creating a blog, a presence on social, strategies for lead generation, and a good system for nurturing leads through email marketing.
In our experience, traditional media is just as important for your communication strategy! To be effective, there must be an integrated communication between digital media and traditional media. There are people who do not even know that they can use a press office, and yet it is a key strategy to establishing authority.
Having a blog, social media and an active online presence helps you to have a major social proof, but does not give you authority. A press office will help you publish press releases and articles on traditional media, national newspapers, television, and radio broadcasts. These provisions are important because they bring popularity and at the same time affirm institutional authoritativeness. Certainly if “Corriere della Sera” or “Sole 24 Ore” speaks about you it means you are someone and you’ve done something noteworthy. Getting space on one of these media is not simple; in fact it is typically very difficult. Only professionals who have experience in press offices, who know agencies and journalists and understand how things work in that environment, can help you gain visibility.
Stand Out has thought of exactly this: how a press office can make a difference for your personal branding in a time when we talk almost exclusively about online. Personal branding is not just about ego and popularity; it also means acquiring credibility and recognized experience. Our solution is to having created a team that knows how to work on your brand from a 360-degree perspective, thinking about the building of popularity but also how to create authority for you in your field.
PS If you want to know more, if you want to see firsthand our strategies and their results, if you want to be supported by a whole team dedicated to you that will help you bring out the best in you and really express your talent as you deserve, make an appointment with us for a free consultation and soon you’ll have the tools to soar. Fill out the Contact form on the home page, follow us on our Facebook Page Stand Out Communication and on our Twitter profile StandOutAgency to become part of our community dedicated to Personal Branding.
AUTHOR: Veronica Penzo – ( Twitter: LadyBitterHoney )
From a young age, used to playing with foreign children, with the desire to become friends with them, I thought: “the mind is not made to communicate in only one language! ” That’s why I chose to travel, to study 5 foreign languages, and to examine communication in all its forms, from PNL to verbal and non-verbal language! I decided to grow these passions for language and for people, first in international TV journalism working with NBC News, then in a communication field even more current: the web and mobile. I have therefore become an expert on all the major social networks, and am up-to-date on all topics of webmarketing, social ads, lead generation, neuromarketing and personal branding. A social media influencer on Twitter and Instagram, I am now leading the social media management for Stand Out and HRD Training Group and I write and coordinate the Stand Out blog.
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