Online reputation management is often misunderstood. Some think it’s all about monitoring social media platforms, and others think it’s rooted in public relations. The biggest offenders are those who are unaware of the influence it can have on sales. This post will explain the role of online reputation management and why it matters in our modern digital age. This post will also outline ten tips for improving and protecting your brand’s online image.
Why Does Reputation Management Matter?
The internet was a different place a few years ago. The critical difference is that businesses didn’t engage with customers. Instead, they only tried to sell to a passive audience. Furthermore, people couldn’t express themselves in a meaningful way. This created a heavily skewed “top-down” flow.
Today, websites are no longer static pamphlets, user-generated content is required, and regular social media interactions are necessary for a business to succeed.
No matter the size of your business, people are talking about you. This includes prospects, customers, clients, and their friends. They’re tweeting about your latest product, commenting on your blog, posting a Facebook update about their experience, and much more.
You seriously need to rethink your strategy if you believe you can ignore reputation management or disregard people’s feedback, viewpoints, and reviews.
You Need to Be Transparent
A core characteristic of any successful business is complete and utter transparency. Companies that adopt this new communication mode with their audience can reap benefits by being receptive to criticism and feedback.
So, what does it mean to be transparent? Here are a few ways you can foster a transparent culture:
- allow employees publically voice their opinions about products and services
- establish a meaningful 1-to-1 communication channel
- frequently seek out feedback
- don’t avoid criticism – address it publically
This is easier said than done! Most small and medium-sized businesses don’t invest much in communication and struggle with the concept. As a result, their efforts usually miss the target or are inconsistent.
In short, transparency is risky. However, in the big picture, failing to be transparent is riskier.
Online Reputation Management “Failures”
Openness does come with a price. If you and your brand accept feedback, customer opinions, etc., you must be ready to respond quickly.
Consider the following:
- Could your brand draw too much criticism?
- Are your employees fluent with social media?
- Could your competition exploit your total transparency?
These are just a few reasons you need an effective online reputation management plan before embracing a 100% transparent approach to business.
3 Epic Fails
Here are three well-known reputation management failures from the digital age:
- Nestlé faced an onslaught of negative attention regarding their environmental practices in 2010 and failed to address them. People aggressively voiced their opinion via social media. Some even posted altered versions of the Nestlé logo, which forced the company to close its public page. What’s the takeaway here? Don’t cover your ears and pretend that people aren’t talking. Instead, take the problem by the horns and correct your mistake(s).
- Dark Horse Café responded poorly to a customer’s tweet regarding their lack of power outlets for customers to use. The café responded, “that’s awesome…we are in the coffee business, not the office business. We have plenty of outlets to do what we need…” Naturally, this didn’t go over well since defensive or aggressive behavior doesn’t work well on social media. In instances like this, show empathy and thank the customer for their input.
- Amy’s Baking Company decided to fight fire with fire when a customer left a one-star online review. The local news eventually picked up the story and blew it up. The lesson here is simple; not all attention is good for your business.
The lesson I’m trying to share here is that you must pay attention to your online reputation and respond kindly to all reviews. Don’t let your ego trump your professionalism. Lastly, you’re not responding to the person who left the review. You’re showing the entire world who your brand is and what it stands for.
Listen To What People Say About Your Brand
What are people saying about you? Effective online reputation management isn’t simply reacting to what people say about you, your brand, or your products. It’s also about whether to react and, if so, when.
Sometimes you don’t need to respond at all. Then there are instances when a late reaction can cost you a king’s ransom.
A proactive approach involves monitoring your public reputation regularly, not just when you become aware of a fire you need to put out.
How do you do this? One option is to hire a massive army to scan the internet for mentions of your brand and react to them. However, this is just silly and a total waste of resources. A more viable and responsible option involves monitoring tools that peruse the internet and listen to what people say about your brand via reviews, comments, and brand mentions on social media and other online sources.
In addition to finding instances where consumers have mentioned your brand, these tools make responding to reviews and comments easy. Some tools even provide actionable insights on addressing issues as they surface. Here is a handful of reputation management tool reviews courtesy of Investopedia. If you’re not quite ready to fork over the cash for a feature-rich reputation management tool, you can always set up a series of Google Alerts.
Beware of Online Reputation Bombs
Businesses need to be mindful of two primary types of harmful content. The first includes complaints on social networks. You need to address these the right way and with tact. Thankfully, these don’t pose a significant threat unless your company has serious issues.
The second form of harmful content you must watch out for is “review bombing.” These doomsday devices can impact your reputation and long-term sales, which, in turn, can severely damage your business. Review bombing is more dangerous than complaints on social media because, unlike social content, they appear in search engine results.
Here are a few examples of defamatory content that can appear on the SERPs:
- Negative Reviews: These sites allow users to share their opinions and experiences with a brand. Did they like your product? Would they recommend it? Negative reviews can hinder your sales, and addressing them doesn’t always solve the problem. Websites like Ripoff Report and Pissed Consumer provide the perfect platform for this style of harmful content.
- Hate Sites: Some consumers decide to take things to a new level and create websites dedicated to their opinions. These sites often contain illegal content. “Hate sites” sometimes address companies and public figures with insults and false information. It should go without saying, but search results like “The Truth About YOURCOMPANY” or “YOURCOMPANY is a Scam” doesn’t serve as ringing endorsements.
- Negative Media Coverage: P.T. Barnum coined the phrase, “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” While this may apply to controversial public figures, it doesn’t carry the same sentiment when applied to television, print, or online media coverage when it negatively portrays a company or brand.
How to Respond to an Online Reputation Smear Campaign
The first thing that comes to mind in most cases is to contact the authorities. This is 100% logical since being targeted without reason feels illegal. However, online comments are not a legal issue in most cases.
Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
People have the right to express their voice about your brand. However, certain limitations exist, and some opinions venture beyond these boundaries. Any online content that uses defamatory language, includes false information, or is designed to damage a company’s reputation is typically illegal.
So, how do you respond to this sort of negative attention? It all depends on the greater scope of the problem, but there are several methods you can apply to restore your reputation.
Aggressive SEO
Ranking on the first two pages of Google for your industry and brand name is one of the most effective ways to push negative publicity away from the public eye. You’ll want to develop a strategy that pushes positive content up the SERPs. The SEO game isn’t an overnight fix, but it’s far too important to ignore, and it’s without question the first step toward restoring your image.
Review Removal
Did an angry customer make a false claim about your company? Is a review written to damage your reputation rather than provide feedback? Does it contain defamatory language? If so, it’s time to bring in the legal eagles and let them work their magic.
Online Investigations
If your brand has suffered severe damage, you may need to hire online analysts to track untraceable threats and attackers via email tracing, data cross-indexing, and other digital collection methods. Cyber investigations are the ultimate means to get to the bottom of most reputation management cases.
Closing Thoughts
Managing your online reputation begins with listening to your customers and finding ways to connect with them. Make sure you address online criticism and develop a rock-solid SEO strategy. If you fall victim to a smear campaign, bring in the professionals.
