Online Reputation Management Lessons Trump Taught Us

Love him or hate him, Donald J. Trump knows a thing or two about branding. Leading up to his
presidential election, he somehow managed to make incredibly cheap-looking red hats, with the
words Make America Great Again on them, and sell like theyre the latest and greatest
technological invention from Apple or a new Nike shoe. In reality, the MAGA hats were as
bland as could be, but more than half a million were sold.1

But a red hat is not the only thing that Trump has branded with success. One perhaps lesser-
known fact is that Trump has spent a significant amount of effort and money to ensure that his
own name and reputation be protected as much as digitally possible online. And thus, Trump has
been intent on retaining his own brandhimselfas a larger than life figure, even in the midst
of a tumultuous political climate where he frequently lambasts his opponents on Twitter and in
return faces a rather fiery opposition as well.

How exactly has Trump offered us online reputation management lessons? Most potently, he has
accomplished this by his plethora of owned domain names. A study earlier this year recorded
that Trump possessed an astounding 3,643 of them.2 According to Trumps son, Eric, his father
owns tens of thousands of domain names, with thousands being added each year.3 Is this just a
waste of money from the billionaire business tycoon? Not at all!

Heres the thing about Trumps impressive portfolio of domain names: by purchasing an almost
laughable amount of domain names, Trump has beaten his enemies to the punch by acquiring the
rights to website names that could potentially be used to malign his character, abilities, and
likability. For example, it is not an agenda-driven Democrat whose goal is to take down Trump
that owns donaldtrumpsucks.com. It is actually Donald Trump. No, Trump does not suffer from
self-hatred. He has done this so as to prevent his political foes from obtaining a clear, concise
domain name that could be used as an outlet for Trump-bashing.

1
http://nypost.com/2017/04/29/trump-campaign-sold-more-than-half-a-million-maga-hats/
2
https://biznology.com/2017/02/need-3643-domains-just-like-president-donald-j-trump/
3
http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-web-addresses-domains-2015-8
Truth be told, most people do not have thousands upon thousands of dollars to spend on domain
names to protect their image. But there are some practical points about online reputation
management that can be made.

1) Think of Preventive Ways to Curb Negative Attention

Obviously, there are countless ways that this can take place. If your company runs a website
(which it absolutely should in this day and age!), then make sure your customers are brought to a
crisp, clean, and readable page. Having choppy, ugly, or simply difficult to read website can
instantly turn people away unnecessarily, and therefore, hurting your image. No, most of us dont
operate in a similar context as Donald Trump. Nevertheless, just as Trump looked for preemptive
ways to best ensure his image, so also can those of us who run websites. Find your weaknesses
and avoid stumbling blocks.

2) Social Media Can Be a Blessing and a Curse

Sure, Donald Trump owns a lot domain names, but he is much better known for his activity on
social media, particularly on Twitter. Indeed, news outlets keep a careful eye on the presidents
feed, just in case he sends out something deeply provocative or controversial. This has led
Michael Barbaro of the New York Times to conclude that Trump Mastered Twitter for 2016.4
In essence, Trump has turned his lone Twitter feed into a news network of sorts, all while casting
other networks like CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS as Fake News.

Some may wonder whether or not Trumps Twitter behavior is ultimately a self-inflicted curse or
a powerful blessing to his followers. Not surprisingly, a majority of those polled on the subject of
Trump and Twitter believes he uses this social media platform too often and in a negative way.
However, a key finding is that while even a majority of Republicans thinks he uses Twitter too
much, 41 percent of those in the GOP consider his Twitter usage to be a good thing.5 This seems
to imply that a significant portion of his base approves of Trumps theatrical approach to Twitter.

4
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/us/politics/donald-trump-twitter-use-campaign-
2016.html
5
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/07/donald-trump-twitter-poll-239222
None of this is to say that all of Trumps methods on Twitter ought to be replicated, particularly
by those who run organizations and websites. However, Trumps Twitter techniques do offer an
important insight on the value of social media for online reputation management. Undoubtedly,
social media can have negative effects upon ones image. Thanks to the democratization of
online review systems and social media comment pages; literally anyone can say anything they
want. Although Trump has protected his image with his domain name monopolization, he cant
exactly escape the nature of online criticisms via social media. This can happen to anyone who
runs a social media page.

Fortunately, there is also a much more optimistic lesson from Trumps social media usage.
Specifically, we can see the importance of having a committed following, even if that group is
only a minor percentage of numerical followers. Just because a majority of Republicans are
less than thrilled by Trumps Twitter account, that does not discount the fact that thousands
(41%) absolutely love what he does. As many marketing experts will argue, the amount of
followers is not what is most important. What really matters is the level of engagement and
loyalty. Trump, meanwhile, has a committed fan base (despite also having a committed enemy
base as well). A committed fan base, even if its not huge, is ultimately much better than a large
and lackluster one.

Donald Trumps social media behavior has been unconventional and does not perfectly translate
to suggested proper etiquette for others. Yet, it must be remembered that Trump has found
success in online reputation management in at least a couple of ways: (1) his preventative
measures of defending his name online (2) the blessings and the curses of having a social media
presence. For those interested in preserving a reputable name online, Trumps examples provide
insights on making your online reputation great again.