Industry News and Information
October 19, 2009
October 16, 2009 - Google already offers PPC advice and SEO advice. And now, with “Googling yourself” becoming a common part of the language, Google’s now offering reputation management advice, too.
The actual advice is basic, to say the least: Create a Google Profile. Ask happy customers to review your business online. Publish positive content about yourself.
September 30, 2009 - When it comes to brand management, one of the most insidious problems is cybersquatting, especially for pharma-marketers. According to a recent MarkMonitor report there are more than 19,000 'cybersquatted' domains for the top six pharmaceutical brands. That is a 9% increase over 2008.
Cybersquatting is the wrongful use of a domain based on trademarked names. MarkMonitor research reveals that cybersquatting happens upwards of 23,000 times each week for brands across the spectrum of advertising sectors.
August 3, 2009 - A growing number of businesses are tracking social-media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to gauge consumer sentiment and avert potential public-relations problems. Ford Motor Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co., among others, are deploying software and assigning employees to monitor Internet postings and blogs. They're also assigning senior leaders to craft corporate strategies for social media.
"Social media have magnified the urgency of crisis communication," says Shel Holtz, a communications consultant in Concord, Calif., and co-author of "Blogging for Business." He says seemingly small incidents can quickly spread into bigger PR problems via the Web.
July 30, 2009 - Your customers are talking about you — and the whole world is listening. Local review sites are reshaping the world of small business by becoming the new Yellow Pages, one-stop platforms where customers can find a business — and also see independent critiques of its performance. How do you manage your reputation when everybody is a critic?
For some business owners, this is a terrifying prospect that seems more like mob rule than the wisdom of crowds. Negative reviews can hang an albatross around your neck if they appear prominently in search results. Happily, there is a big upside: referrals from happy clients are traditionally the best source of new business — and online forums are powerful word-of-mouth. The review process has been democratized.
