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How Credible/Authentic is Your Web Site Perceived?

8 Aug

Why do most people trust those whom they know and .org Web sites more than mass media and .com Web sites? In a word: credibility (authenticity) — people’s trust is hard to earn and to retain.

As Bob Hutchins reports for Business 2 Community:

“Did you hear the story about how Kim Kardashian lost 100,000 Instagram followers? Her problem? Authenticity. When it comes down to it, authenticity – or credibility, as it’s referred to in a recent infographic from Content Ranked – affects everything in your business. While, I’m primarily interested in authenticity as it pertains to marketing and communications, the effects of authenticity stretch far and wide across your entire business.”

“You can review the infographic below to check out several ways that the marketing and communication strategies used on your Web site affect your credibility.”

 

 

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A Brand Strategy Road Map

3 Aug

Are you approaching your company branding or your self-branding strategy in a systematic and comprehensive manner?

Here are some valuable insights from Ken Hanson, CEO of Hansen Dodge —  an integrated agency that solves complex problems through strategy and an idea-first approach:

“Some see a brand as merely a logo and a tagline. At Hanson Dodge Creative, we know it’s much more. That’s why our brand strategies are far-reaching. And why we cull insights and beliefs from your team, the consumer and the market, and weave those insights into a strategy and three-year road map that will integrate with and help drive the strategic plan of the organization.We’ve been creating brands for some of the greatest companies in the world for more than 30 years. During that time, our approach has identified 16 key components that every brand strategy should include.”

 
Click the image for a larger view.

 

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A Social Media Policy for Employees

27 Jul

Globally, a very important issue facing companies of all types and sizes involves the use of social media by employees. Whether we are considering comments on company social media or observations at personal social media pages, there is a lot to be concerned about. In particular: (1) Is the desired company messaging presented consistently? (2) Do employees post anything that may reflect negatively upon their employers?

Recently, Larry Alton (writing for Social Media Examiner) presented these valuable recommendations:

“Want to help your employees better engage on social media? Wondering how a social media policy can help? A social media policy gives your employees guidelines for interacting with customers and protecting their personal safety, as well as your business’s reputation. In this article, you’ll discover three tips for creating a social media policy for your employees.”

(1) “Explain Who Can Speak for Your Company on Social Media. Your social media policy needs to explain who can or can’t speak on behalf of the company on social media. For example, Walmart has a strict social media policy that prohibits regular employees from answering customer complaints or questions directed toward the company. Walmart has an official social media team specifically for that purpose. However, not all policies have to be as strict as Walmart’s. In fact, a more relaxed policy can still protect your business and generate trust among your staff and fans. Experienced employees who are passionate about customer service may have solid advice to help customers resolve their concerns.“

(2) “Create Detailed Guidelines for Business and Personal Conduct on Social Media. Your social media policy should provide detailed content guidelines for all of your employees who regularly (or occasionally) post on social media as your business. To help employees understand your expectations and create a consistent voice for the business, you can include standard responses to common situations in your policy [such as handling complaints, posting on personal accounts, etc.].”

(3) “Protect Your Employees and Sensitive Business Information. You can’t assume employees know what you consider ‘sensitive information.’ Also, many people share every aspect of their lives on social media. Your policy must clarify what business-related information employees shouldn’t share. You need to prohibit posts that put your business or staff at risk and explain why certain information creates a risk. If you run a coffee shop, for example, information on your opening procedures can be considered sensitive information since someone can use it when looking to steal from or hurt your employees.”

 
Click the image to read more from Alton.


 

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What People Want from Brands On Social Media

18 Jul

Last week, we posted about “Are You Always “On”? Living in a Connected World.” (1, 2, 3) As we noted, whether we are referring to companies’ behavior on social media or to our own efforts on social media, care must always be taken — and bad/inappropriate behavior avoided.

Consider these observations and charts from a study conducted by Sprout Social (“Bringing Businesses & People Closer Together”):

“Plenty of brands are doubling down on social snark [an attitude or expression of mocking irreverence and sarcasm] and reaping the benefits of more media visibility. But does this correlate to sales? To understand how brand personality impacts purchasing decisions, Sprout Social surveyed 1,000 consumers on which traits they want brands to demonstrate on social and what action specific brand responses such as humor or friendliness prompt.”

 

“The limelight most often falls on big brands with big social personalities, but what’s in it for the rest of us? While 75% of consumers believe there’s value in brands exhibiting humor on social, only 36% are willing to purchase from brands they believe are funny. And those brands have to bring it, because funny can quickly slide into annoying if not fresh, relevant, and interesting. That’s a big problem when 50% of consumers say they would unfollow a brand that annoyed them on social and 23% would walk away from your brand completely by vowing to never buy you again. Ouch.”

 

 

 

 

Click the image below for the full report.


 

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Are YOU Buying These Scam Products?

17 Jul

Are YOU susceptible to buying products that over-promise their benefits or are otherwise deceptive?

In this video from Planet Dolan, do you agree that these are all scam products? [Note: The Planet Dolan YouTube channel has 5.5 million subscribers. and 1.4 billions views]
 

 

 

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A Video to Help YOU Be Inspired — and Kind!!

28 May

We may be busy. We may be cranky. We may be tired. But, especially in these overly cynical times, it’s important that we also be kind — and respectful.

The video embedded below (“Don’t Judge People You Don’t Know”) has been viewed 28 million times on Facebook!
 

Please think about the message conveyed, and do an act of kindness.

 

 

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Another United PR Disaster: You Can’t Make This Up!

18 Apr

After its recent public relations nightmare, when it forcibly removed a passenger from a seat due to overbooking (overloading)  and dragged him from his seat, you would think that United Airlines would have learned its lesson. Social media and TV reports skewered United for its actions. Just this one video received more than 3.6 million views in a single week after the incident.
 

 
As a result of the continuing social media barrage — and after several PR missteps, United’s CEO finally issued a more consumer-oriented message to the public. As reported by Brandon Morse for THE BLAZE:

“United CEO Oscar Munoz has stated that in light of the recent deplaning debacle [on April 9, 2017], United Airlines will no longer use police to remove passengers from planes. In an interview with Good Morning America, Munoz stated that he felt ‘ashamed’ over how passenger David Dao was forcibly removed from the flight, and promised to review his company’s passenger removal policy. According to United spokesperson Maddie King, the passengers who witnessed the incident of flight 3411 will be reimbursed for the price of their ticket [if they sign a waiver against suing]. This news comes on the heels of the announcement that two more officers that were involved in the incident have been put on leave.”

From Fox News:

“That is not who our family at United is,” Munoz said. “This will never happen again on a United flight. That’s my promise.” In the future, law enforcement will not be involved in removing a “booked, paid, seated passenger,” Munoz said. “We can’t do that.”

So did CEO Munoz really mean what he said? You decide! On April 15, 2017, less than one week after the above incident, United removed two passengers on the way to their wedding. NPR’s Doreen McCallister reports that: “A couple flying to Costa Rica for their wedding were removed from a United Airlines flight in Houston on Saturday. The incident happened nearly a week after a video showing a passenger being dragged off a Chicago-to-Louisville flight went viral. Michael Hohl and Amber Maxwell are scheduled to get married on Thursday.“
 
Here’s a video clip from USA Today on this latest incident.
 

 
More!! The parodies of United Airlines are brutal. Here’s one example (recorded before the wedding couple incident).
 

 

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