Prominent on the homepage: A blog.  The first blog post: A message from Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House.  An excerpt from that first blog post:

Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration’s online programs will put citizens first. Our initial new media efforts will center around three priorities:

Communication — Americans are eager for information about the state of the economy, national security and a host of other issues. This site will feature timely and in-depth content meant to keep everyone up-to-date and educated. Check out the briefing room, keep tabs on the blog (RSS feed) and take a moment to sign up for e-mail updates from the President and his administration so you can be sure to know about major announcements and decisions.

Transparency – President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise. The President’s executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government. You can also learn about some of the senior leadership in the new administration and about the President’s policy priorities.

Participation — President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.

While I expected a lot of things to happen today, a new White House website with a new media communication strategy wasn’t one of them.  Change is good.  Have an opinion on what the new White House webshite should be or what Obama and his cabinet should be focusing on?  You could post it here, but you’d be far more likely to get noticed if you post it on the White House’s “contact us” form.

No word yet on Ted Stevens’ assessment of the effort.

No related posts.

Here’s an example.  This is the marketing page on Alltop: http://marketing.alltop.com/

Don’t like everything you see? If you prefer not to view a blog that is listed in a category, you simply delete it by clicking the “x” beside the name of the blog (there is an option to restore the page so it displays everything in a category).

Yes, Online Marketing Performance is listed on Alltop; it’s in the marketing catgory.

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If you aren’t familiar with it, online reputation management involves being aware of, and participating in, the perception of one’s brand online.  Three factors which have propelled online reputation management to the forefront of digital marketers’ minds:

1. The power of search engines as an efficient way to research companies, their products and services
2. Search engine’s affinity for user generated content, and
3. The increasing amount of confidence consumers pus on the opinion voiced by other consumers, whether they know them or not.

The power of consumer opinion

While the first two points above are largely accepted, the third—the amount of confidence consumer put in the opinion of other consumers online—is both powerful and highly relevant.  An October 2007 Nielsen survey (Trust in Advertising – a global Nielsen consumer report) concludes that “consumers around the world still place their highest levels of trust in other consumers.”  Included in the studies breadth of platforms and sources were:

• Ads before movies
• Brand Sponsorship
• Brand websites
• Consumer options posted online
• Email [the consumer] signed up for
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Online banner ads
• Radio
• Recommendations from consumers
• Search engine ads
• Text ads on mobile phones
• TV

“Recommendations from consumers” topped the survey with 78% of respondents indicating “they trusted – either completely or somewhat – the recommendation of other consumers.”  How all platforms and sources fared can be seen in the chart below.

Clearly monitoring how your brand is being perceived (and participating in that perception) is valuable to any organization. Depending on your need, online reputation management can be handled in house or a digital marketing firm can be engaged.

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