This is a story about how productivity can go pear shape.
And potentially damage a brand.
For a while I have been noticing quite a number of comments left on my blog posts that do not come from business owners.
Most of them are general in nature at best.
They also have email addresses like i592h/6@gmail.com which is a bit obvious.
This week I received a comment that didn’t make much sense, had punctuation mistakes and for the grammar it is best not to go there.
So I decided to check it out to see what was happening.
The website and business it linked to looked legitimate so I filled out the contact form.
I asked if one their employees had left the comment or if they didn’t then perhaps someone was using their URL.
This was being polite as the comment referred to having a partner in the business.
I did get a reply but not from the company. Instead it was from an SEO firm who asked if I could send the comment.
To cut the story short the company appears to have employed the SEO firm to increase links as part of the service.
The SEO company turns out got someone else to leave comments and obviously hasn’t overseen the activity to ensure quality control. My site is probably just one of many that this SEO company is letting the person comment on and who knows what others are thinking about the company footing the bill.
I can only image what the business owner would have felt seeing this type of comment left with his business name.
If you contract out your marketing activities here are a few tips:
Brand Reputation Tips
- If you are outsourcing delegate but do not abdicate.
- Have clear guidelines on what they do and get regular reports to ensure quality is occurring and not rubbish quantity.
- Make sure that anything done in your brand’s name enhances the reputation.
- Find out whether the company doing your SEO or anything else outsources in turn to someone else and make sure the other person or company is quality.
You work long and hard to maximise your brand and reputation so don’t leave it in the hands of another without your input and guidance.
Over to you, what are your thoughts on this and please add your tips to the list.
