We used to be swayed by traditional advertising and clever campaigns, but in the social age that has all changed. If you talk about yourself or your company too much, you are labeled a self-promoter or a spammer. It’s time to let other people do the talking for you.

Think about the last time you bought something online. Did you read reviews? Did you research products until you found enough five star reviews that you were satisfied with your selection? This is how customers behave today.

Building “relationships” is no longer enough. Today we are living in the ‘Testimonial Economy,’ where we must earn the trust and respect of our customers and employees. Organizations need to relate to these groups and as our guest, Mark Babbitt stated, “speak to them, not at them.” as this helps them to better identify with the organization and organically become champions of our brands.

This week on #WorkTrends, host Meghan M. Biro and her special guest, Mark Babbitt, CEO at YouTern, discussed the importance of brand evangelism.  .

Here are a few key points Mark shared:

• Talking about your brand might put a small bump in your sales revenue but it makes a bigger dent in credibility
• Without social proof, your brand will be in trouble
• We are now more aware of how to filter out the bad opportunities
• You need to be checking out what people are saying about your brand every day
• If you don’t reach out over negative reviews, people are going to assume the reviews are true

Did you miss the show? You can listen to the #WorkTrends podcast on our BlogTalk Radio channel here: http://bit.ly/2tAtPuI

You can also check out the highlights of the conversation from our Storify here:

Didn’t make it to this week’s #WorkTrends show? Don’t worry, you can tune in and participate in the podcast and chat with us every Wednesday from 1-2pm ET (10-11am PT).

Remember, the TalentCulture #WorkTrends conversation continues every day across several social media channels. Stay up-to-date by following our #WorkTrends Twitter stream; pop into our LinkedIn group to interact with other members. Engage with us any time on our social networks, or stay current with trending World of Work topics on our website or through our weekly email newsletter.

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