How Many Reputations Can You Manage?

When it comes to reputation management, most online marketers have more than one to manage. I’m sure that if you thought about it, you could identify several reputations you have to manage on a day-to-day basis. Here are a few you might consider:

• Your personal reputation – If you are a CEO or an entrepreneur, then you are managing your personal reputation. Even middle managers or department heads have to manage their own reputations online, especially if they blog or do any social media for their companies.
• Corporate reputation – If you’ve incorporated, or even if you’re doing business as, your business’s reputation is separate from your own.
• Brand reputation – Your brand also has a reputation. The brand is the recognizable logo or brand identity associated with a particular product, product line, or corporate face.
• Products – Each product or product line you manage has a reputation to manage.
• Slogans and taglines – Believe it or not, your talking points messages need to be managed and develop their own reputations apart from the brands and entities they represent.
• Marketing messages – Beyond taglines and slogans, marketing messages, ad spots, etc. need a level of reputation management all on their own.

Any aspect of your business that is managed by a single individual or a team of individuals is subject to reputation management. That includes geographic locations, divisions, and branches. In some cases, the different identities that need to be managed may overlap. For instance, your brand and your corporate identity may require separate reputation management campaigns, but there will be some overlap between the two. You should know where those overlap points are.

Reputation management has gone beyond a single entity to manage. You have several reputations to manage.