The Art of Reputation Management

If you’ve just received a call from an HR manager for a job interview, you can be sure they have already Googled you, looked you up on Facebook and reviewed your LinkedIn profile. According to the Search Engine Journal in February 2012, 80% of companies are using social media in their recruiting. But companies and employees also need Reputation Management.

It’s now easier than ever to share our thoughts instantly online or share a joke with friends. However, certain kinds of content can be grounds for dismissal in some cases: in 2010 Hong Kong postie Lyndon Hohaia was dismissed by the New Zealand Post after creating a comical blog on his Facebook page about a fictional postman.

He argued the firing was unjustified and the case was later settled out of court leaving the question about his original dismissal up for debate. This is just one of the many cases which demonstrates that what you post on social media can come back to haunt you. Just ask the 13 crew members of Virgin Atlantic who were dismissed in 2008 after referring to employees as “chavs” and joked about faulty engines (see this article by the Guardian soon after).

Although Hohaia’s case was about getting fired from his job, it’s likely there’s countless people at the start of their careers who will miss out on an interview because of what the employer found online. In fact, a study done by the Society of Human Resource Management, 36% of organisations found something in their screening that caused them to disqualify a candidate from a position.

Employers, clients and stakeholders have more access to information online than ever before. With approximately 70% of people having a smartphone according to the Pew Research Centre, making an impulsive post or comment is all too easy.

In a 2012 report on the use of Social Media in HR by KPMG for the USA, 84% of those looking for work have a Facebook profile, and almost half have used Facebook for job seeking activity in the last year. According to We Are Social, the beginning of 2016 saw 2.307 billion active users of social media.

Part of this has been seen in the rise of new social platforms like Snapchat which allows people to selectively share pictures, videos and snippets before they are deleted. However, there are just as many apps and techniques that can let you save those moments, meaning you still have to be careful about what you are putting out.

Once something is online, it’ll be there forever. For professionals like Lawyers, Doctors and Accountants your reputation management is everything. A handful of bad reviews or just one bad news review can cause plenty of damage. For a professional, a single bad review can mean the difference between a client setting an appointment with you, or looking for someone else.

Everyone leaves a digital footprint and as Facebook uses your real identity, how you present yourself on these channels has an impact on your reputation. This has given rise to reputation management tools such as Brand Yourself which helps people curate their digital persona. Its free version is useful at informing consumers about potentially negative associations with their name or brand, but offers limited methods of mitigating those aspects.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt there is a major need for reputation management, whether your goal is to be on the first page or want to get an article about you off the first page. In the digital sphere, reputation is a currency. We are a digital marketing agency Hong Kong with expertise in SEO services Hong Kong and proven white hat techniques. We can get those articles off the first page and much more! Give us a buzz and let’s grab some coffee. Reputation extends far beyond the SEO efforts but also social media marketing Hong Kong. Whether that’s YouTube advertising, instagram marketing or Facebook marketing services, we’re here to help you.