One of the scariest aspects of being online is a lack of control over one's brand. Through the miracle of the Internet, anyone can say anything at any time. This can be especially challenging for those in the financial industry, as there are often barriers to interacting on the web.
We have seen this used as an excuse not to get involved with social media and digital marketing, but the truth is that these conversations are occurring whether you're online to manage them or not. Black marks — from a criticism on a review site to a negative newspaper editorial — can appear anywhere on the web and threaten your business's online reputation. So what can you do about it?
The trick to combating an unfavorable reputation is to build up a contrasting positive one. The good news is that if you're an advisor who has taken steps to construct a positive digital presence and offer valuable content on your website, you're already on the right track to having an unblemished online persona.
While you can't simply erase negative online comments, there are ways to push them out of search engines' top results by building up more positive content.
Alert yourself. First you need to know what is being said about you, so you can take action as soon as possible. Set up Google Alerts to get updated information on where and what is being said about you. If you are looking for an additional in-depth tool for social-media mentions, give Mention a try. It often catches social-media conversations missed by Google Alerts.
