How to Deal With Online Reputation Issues (Part 2)

For part 1 of this series, click here.

Now that people almost always search online to find reviews about companies and brands before making a purchase, online reputation is something to guard closely. Below are some more options for companies facing controversies or criticism online, to maintain the brand strength, and therefore keep the customers coming.

Respond promptly. Some comments on social media may really be politely-worded constructive criticisms from supporters who were disappointed by the company’s product or service just this one time. Comments like this should evoke an immediate response that thanks the customer for providing feedback, and promising swift action. Responding promptly is important because the company takes ownership of the conversation, making sure that it goes only in the preferred direction (read: puts the company in a positive light). Investigation should be conducted to verify the complaint, and thereafter, the resolution should be posted for all to see. The response could be an apology or a defense: but the key is to reassure the complaining customer and the prospective customers that action is being taken for the incident not to happen again.

Respond indirectly. Sometimes a comment can be too damaging to ignore, and yet damaging to address directly as well. For example, if the criticism also involves a competitor brand, a direct response may also inadvertently provide the competing brand the exposure. An indirect response can be the “cool” option: the company puts itself above the fray, and does not provide more traction to the harsh criticism. For example, a criticism about the quality of the company’s product can be addressed with a post about an award, or acclaim that the same product received. It will show the skeptics and critics that perhaps, the issue is just a matter of opinion, not fact.

Complain to the authorities. If the criticism or negative content is damaging, malicious, and/or based on something fabricated, reporting to the authorities can be an option. Blocking and reporting are examples of complaining (since the page “authorities” get notified), but these are just preliminary steps. If the source is a journalist, or a reviewer in his industry, the aggrieved company can report the incident to the person’s employer, emphasizing concerns regarding ethics and professionalism.

Just a rule of thumb for all of these steps in online reputation management: where the customer posted the criticism, the response should be on that medium as well. An exception would be if the controversy unnaturally arose on the asset of another party which may not be inclined to host the conversation on their space. In such cases, the response should note that interested parties should go to the specific other venue to follow the discussion.

How to Deal With Online Reputation Issues

These days, a single 50-character badly-worded tweet, or a 10-second Vine taken out of context can make or break a brand. With the rise of social media that has brought company-customer and customer-customer interaction to whole new levels, skills in managing the company’s online reputation becomes handy.

The question is, what exactly does one do when something unfortunate like this happens? And how does a PR-savvy company deal with controversies that happen in this age? Here are the basic options that should be deliberated on thoroughly, on a case-to-case basis.

Ignore. Say, a customer says something bad about a brand, on his Twitter. It could be an uninformed rant, or something with basis, such as an unpleasant experience in the company’s establishment. If it’s the former, and if the person in question does not exactly have a following, then ignoring may be the best option. It does not put more undeserved attention to his post, and the company will not be engaged in a conversation that they do not want to be in. If it is the latter, choosing to ignore can still be an option, if the rant uses foul language, or if the person simply seeks to draw attention more than obtaining “justice.”

Delete. If the venue of the post is the company’s account, say, their Facebook page, or their blog, then there is the added option to delete user comments that are baseless and/or nastily worded. The key to this is regular and comprehensive monitoring of the company’s social media assets, exactly to nip these kinds of conversations in the bud. This way, less people will be able to see such negative posts. On Facebook, another option is to just hide them, so that the original poster will mistakenly believe that their comment is still visible. For very special cases, in which the user does not even appear to be a real person with a proper profile but just trolling around, blocking from social media accounts helps keep the company’s online reputation spotlessly clean.

Delayed response. Yes, this is an option. Sometimes, a topic can be so controversial that releasing a knee-jerk reaction can just be disastrous. Or, the company can just sound very defensive and so offended, which may dignify a comment that should not be. Delaying the response, until the “smoke has cleared” so to speak, can be a great option if the company is sure that it is on the right, and that the course of things will vindicate their organization.

Achieving Brand Recognition via Internet Reputation Management

The internet has created a different world to where people can easily access everything. This created links and bridges to where business dealings with other countries can be done. Online trade opens a lot of opportunities for both big and small business. With the leveled playing field, gaining customers are determined by your credibility. To assist you in maintaining online credibility, businesses rely on internet reputation management. This allows big and small businesses in keeping a pristine image thus increasing clients’ confidence on the services you offer.

Internet reputation management creates a campaign promoting your company’s online identity. Your online identity becomes your brand and eventually the reason that you will be known for. The campaign starts in creating brand awareness. This can be achieved by publishing online contents that define your brand. These online contents not only introduce your products and service to the market in a very relatable way. These could be reviews, related articles, videos that present your products.

In internet reputation management, published contents acts as a gateway to a lot of other online marketing strategies. This brings us to the use of keywords and phrases used on search engines to promote your online popularity. Certain keywords and phrases can be assigned to your website when searched online. Like Coke, for example, is associated to the words; soda, soft drinks or the phrase; “it’s the real thing”. With proper keyword association, potential customers can directly access your website.

Also part of using keywords and phrases is the proliferation of these keywords and phrases online. The number of keywords is summed up to add to your online reputation. Internet Reputation Management banks on statistics and online commerce this time. With enough keywords published online, this grants you with a higher possibility of being on the top search list compared to competition. Constant visibility of your brand leads to brand retention.

But the use of online contents not only proves to be useful there. Internet Reputation Management also flushes out any wrong publicity against your company to make sure that when client research on your services, they are then provided with a good reviews that highlights your company’s strengths. In maintaining your reputation, bad publicity can be daunting. With good amount of reviews published online, you can eradicate negative feedbacks. With good feedback, you achieve brand confidence.

Internet Reputation Management uses online contents to provide easy access to your website. Online contents create the need, providing soft advertisement leading to your site. Then these enticed customers can click on links on these online contents so they can purchase your services, resulting to more business. Internet Reputation Management build your brand, maintains good brand image and with easy access to everyone, who knows? Your business could be the next global brand.