At Outspoken Media we’ve been thinking a lot about reputation marketing and what it means for brands and individuals. To help define the discipline a bit more, I decided we need place to collect simple, actionable examples of reputation marketing in real life. Why not publish our findings in a series here on the blog? This will help us store great examples from brands we love, but also gives you a fresh source of inspiration!
(And, to be totally honest, it’s 8pm and I’m doing some keyword and SERP-level analysis for a big social piece we’re creating for a client. Naturally, I turned to Moz’s amazing Keyword Explorer tool, but I was in a different browser and wasn’t logged in. That’s when I stumbled on the series’ first example, which is what gave me the idea in the first place! Gotta give credit where credit is due.)
Reputation Marketing Example #1:
Moz’s Personalized Login Page
When you log into Moz something unexpected happens depending on your time of day–you get a little welcome message that’s personalized with these delicious graphics and gorgeous lettering:
Go check out the magic for yourself here: https://moz.com/login
How fun! This is quirky and exactly what I’d expect from Moz, because it captures three of Moz’s brand values (TAGFEE)–it’s Authentic to the Moz brand, Fun for users, and Exceptional in its simple, but innovative implementation.
I smile each time I log into Moz. This type of psychological cue has to shape my perception of the brand and builds strong associations that strengthen the reputation of Moz in the deep recesses of my lizard brain… a brain that has now been triggered to salivate at the very thought of logging into Moz. Because, “Yes, I do want a delicious sweet to get me through a long night of content review and writing!”
The element of surprise!
What I like most about Moz’s login page is that it’s both surprising and personal. One of the most important ingredients in a great reputation is the element of surprise. It can be difficult to understand what this means or how it applies to your business model.
Moz is software for marketers. They’re a B2B who found a way to create an engaging brand with elements of surprise hidden all over their site and laced into every hands-on experience you have with them. This is part of their DNA and culture and is why Moz has been so successful to date even amid difficult periods like the recent layoffs they had in August 2016. Their reputation makes it easy for the industry to hang in there and get excited about what comes next, because they take the time to give something to their community even if it’s just a little treat to the world:
Even a login page can be beautiful. #Moz #Design pic.twitter.com/BpBAfEmG44
— Rewind & Capture (@RewindCapture) February 22, 2016
Diving into @moz for @CodeTankLabs this morning. They have the politest login screen I’ve seen so far! pic.twitter.com/HxIczknROd
— Brad Miller (@_bradmiller) March 2, 2016
When you’re trying to drink less caffeine in 2016 and you login to @Moz…#coffee #coffee #coffee
#itsonlythe8th pic.twitter.com/NSIee8CdG0— Rhonwyn Crownover (@RhonwynJeannine) January 8, 2016
Diggin’ the current @Moz login screen :) pic.twitter.com/wpFqeACKiR
— Ryan Bollenbach (@gotboompah) October 8, 2015
It’s been a while since I’ve typed my @Moz login password but hey this background makes my work day even better! pic.twitter.com/kLAa5KVaEt
— Elsie De Stoop (@mohow) May 28, 2015
The @Moz login page is the perfect way to start the day. What a treat! pic.twitter.com/VULb2I00J7
— Duncan Lawrence (@dncnlwrnc) April 24, 2015
Nice touch on the login page! Good morning to you @Moz pic.twitter.com/r59ObLTZFb
— Caitlin Boroden (@CaitlinBoroden) April 22, 2015
Loving the new, uber-friendly login screen for @Moz. #SEO #deliciousapples pic.twitter.com/os1FGW79VY
— Alex Quaye (@digitalwhat) April 21, 2015
(Apparently most of you are morning people!)
When was the last time your login page was shared by a pleasantly surprised community?
Most brands stop at a standard, navigational portal for users. Some might customize the login page with their brand colors and fonts as well as helpful links.
I suspect the brands who take a few minutes to implement these tiny surprises have more established brands and better reputations, which makes growth much easier to achieve long-term. This is the core of reputation marketing in my mind and why I will continue to push for widespread adoption of this discipline until everyone is sick of it or until every brand has a reputation marketer on their team (or baked into their daily routine)!
How do you make something like Moz’s login background for your site or app?
- Decide whether this is right for you. What type of personalization aligns with your brand values and message? Will it resonate with your constituents or does it have the potential to upset or simply not impress them? Think through the potential responses you’ll receive before you put the time in, or worse, execute and discover a backlash.
- Get the right people in the room. Start by getting the people who need to be involved in the same room or conversation (unless one super human can do it all!).
- Figure out where it goes. Is the login page the right place for your audience? The homepage? Other?
- Determine creative direction. Are you doing something as whimsical and casual as what Moz did or is your brand more traditional? Find the right balance for you and create using the appropriate colors, fonts, graphics or illustrations, and tone.
- Add it to your site. You’ll want to make sure the code works and does not conflict with other functionality on your site or app. In this example, Moz used JavaScript and CSS to assign different backgrounds based on a given user’s time of day, but you can do lots of different things to create a unique experience for your visitors. Here’s one possible solution for this exact feature published on Stack Overflow.
- Remember to track your results! Does this negatively or positively impact related calls to action or other important metrics impacting performance? Setup monitoring to capture all possible mentions for your brand across social channels or other websites. Use tools like Google Alerts, Social Mention, or Moz’s own Fresh Web Explorer to listen in (or any number of small to enterprise-level listenting tools!). If what you’re doing is visual, you can also use Google Image Search to locate potential shares.
Credit: It looks like this creative was designed by Derric Wise. See more from Derric here. The entire Design Team at Moz cooks up beautiful work, which is visible here.
