Marketing Pilgrim

I am a FriendFeed fan boy.

That is saying a lot, because I am usually pretty critical of everything.

The platform is easy to use, and makes the first real concentrated effort towards making a single platform for all social media.

One of the main uses I see for FriendFeed is as a reputation monitoring and management tool.

Here are five ways to utilize the service for rep management and monitoring:

1) Establishing a Network - I am a huge proponent of reputation of management through preemptive means. By creating lasting relationships with market publishers and thought leaders you can more easily build your brand, and protect it. FriendFeed gives you a tool to effectively communicate your social media efforts en total with these contacts. It also allows you directly communicate through the feed itself using its “share something” feature, which is a form of micro-blogging.

2) RSS Monitoring - The most simplistic reputation management tools are based on RSS feed monitoring. By simply following the market publishers and thought leaders that influence your niche you can easily monitor what is being said about your brand, as well as make immediate transparent responses. Remember that dead time in response to a reputation crisis, is time that can kill your brand.

3) Mobile Rep Management - FF to go and other applications give you a mobile reputation monitoring and management option. Stop brand crisis on the go.

4) Social Media Profile for SERPs - Optimized Social Media profiles have been a hot topic of discussion in SEO and Social Media as of late. A well optimized FriendFeed profile, can be critical in your battle for SERP equity. Remember that one of the most damaging things that can happen to your online reputation is having a negative post or comment show up when a customer is searching your name in the search engines. Controlling the search engine results pages through brand controlled content is important in the battle for quality reputation.

5) Building Brand Advocates - Utilize the medium to create a transparent image of your brand. Do not look to fool your customer, utilize your FriendFeed feed to be transparent and show the qualities your company looks to project. Share your FriendFeed on your Facebook profiles, your blog, and anywhere else you are likely to find customers looking for you. Let them realize that your company is actively sharing transparent information. This type of strategy helps build brand advocates, which will help you destroy any reputation issues.

I plan on sharing some of these tactics on the SES San Jose panel Andy Beal and I are sharing. I think FriendFeed has a lot of potential in terms of link building as well, but for marketers of every ilk the reputation management use of this tool makes it intriguing. Get out now and claim your important names in the platform, and begin to establish your strategy.

Never wait until a rep crisis emerges, because by then it is too late.