Let’s talk about your brand and reputation because Marketing Perceptions are Messy.

I am currently working with a local branch of an international organization that understands the importance of being accurate in their marketing messaging.  So much so, that they have a compliance department that reviews all of their marketing and advertising outreach including what we, WOWO Radio are going to be doing with them this month.

I usually don’t need to jump through as many hoops as I have with this company to put together an advertising campaign for most of the people I work with, but this is fine.  They understand the power of bad publicity and in this social media world how bad stuff can go viral.

I sometimes wish my local business owners were as aware of this and so that’s what we are going to talk about today.

You can control the content of your paid advertising messages because you approve those ads ahead of time.

But what about the other marketing messages that are out there?

The way your drivers behave when they are driving your company vehicles for example?

The words and actions of your staff when they are at a customers home or business?

The words and actions when your people are enjoying lunch at their favorite restaurant?

Here’s one that I take into consideration every week:

The words that are spoken that are not necessarily the words and policies of your company, but are said by a representative of your company?

Do you have a policy in place for any of this?

When I began the podcast version of my weekly website articles, I decided to play it safe and every recorded version includes the following disclaimer:

THERE IS A ROUGH TRANSCRIPTION OF THIS PODCAST ONLINE AT THE WEBSITE SCOTT HOWARD DOT ME.  IF YOU WANT TO GO BACK AND READ OR CHECK OUT THE LINKS I MAY MENTION, YOU’LL FIND THEM THERE. SCOTT HOWARD DOT ME.

I WILL BE UPDATING THIS PODCAST EVERY WEEK HOWEVER IS ADDITIONAL MATERIAL THAT I WRITE THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT IN THE PODCAST VERSION BUT WILL BE ON THE SCOTT HOWARD DOT ME WEBSITE.

AND EVEN THOUGH I AM RECORDING THIS AT THE FEDERATED MEDIA STUDIOS IN FORT WAYNE, INDIANA AND I WORK FOR WOWO RADIO AND THIS IS BEING PROMOTED BY MY EMPLOYER.  EVERYTHING I SAY OR WRITE IS STRICTLY MY OWN THOUGHTS AND NOT NECESSARILY THE OPINIONS OF FEDERATED MEDIA OR ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATIONS AND OR ADVERTISERS.

Click above for the link to the podcast

I wasn’t asked to include that disclaimer, but I did it as a “just in case” preventative move.  I’ve been writing and publishing these stories and articles every week for years, over 6 years now at the ScottHoward.me website and other sites before that.

When I joined the WOWO advertising sales team 4 years ago, I asked and received permission from my management team to share the stuff that I write and talk about publicly.  I don’t have a compliance department overseeing this before it’s published and my radio bosses don’t ask for preview copies either.  They simply trust me to have the common sense to do what is right and appropriate.

Last year they came to me and asked if I would consider doing a podcast version of my website, and that’s how the Genuine ScLoHo Media & Marketing Podcast came about.  There are links to it on the WOWO.com website.  It’s a win win situation for them and for me because of the trust factor.

That trust factor is what I want you to consider as a take away from this article and podcast.  You really need to let your staff know what is expected of them when they are representing your company.  Put it in a company handbook, make it part of their employment contract, or what ever is most appropriate. Don’t bury it the fine print either.

You need to trust your staff to be responsible and that starts with letting them know what that means.  Your customers and potential customers are watching and this is even more powerful than your paid advertising messages.  Marketing Perceptions are Messy.  Your job is to do your best to keep it clean.

Want help?  Let’s talk.