Reputation management is an often-confused term used by many and is often ended up having strange connotations. While for some it evokes connection with Digital PR and for a different set of people it refers to some kind of digital sleuth-work and yet another group may consider it an activity to boost your brand reputation and sales. All the above assumptions may be correct partly yet did not explain the concept in its entirety.
Hence let us start first by unravelling the basics of Online Reputation management. Here are the key points:
- Till probably a decade ago at the most, Internet was a completely different proposition. You are mostly talking to a more passive audience and the customer engagement was at an all-time low.
- From that Top down approach, it has taken a 180-degree spin thanks to Social media explosion with brands survival is based on how transparent they are and the level of customer engagement they encourages.
Being Transparent refers to certain practices an organisation follows such as letting their staff to communicate openly about the products and services publicly or having a direct communication channels with their customers OR providing a feedback sourcing mechanism and also a willingness to openly address negative customer voices honestly etc.
This requires a lot of initiative and customer first commitment from the organisation side and one should be willing to commit resources to manage this exercise consistently and properly. Also being transparent has its own share of risks and if you are not competent to understand and manage the same, this could turn out to very messy indeed.
The Emotions out there…
It is quite natural that there is lot of good and bad vibes are flying out there about your brand. An astute online reputation management involves:
- Closely following your brand reputation on a regular basis
- Reacting appropriately to the chatter.
- This could also mean whether to make a reaction at all. Sometimes silence could be the best reaction strategy. But many a time that strategy could just backfire and cost you millions.
So, a great reputation strategy involves a great deal of insights to get the WHAT, WHEN, WHERE & HOW part of your response RIGHT to the customer chatter online.
Social Media Monitoring – The latest buzzword
Now comes the pertinent question: How one can access to the online chatter? Here comes Social Media Monitoring which essentially refers to the whole gamut of Online Chatter Monitoring tools available to satiate your need. These tools allow the companies to gather public online content (from blog posts to tweets, from online reviews to Facebook updates), process it, and see whether something negative or positive is being said affecting their reputation. The type of tools ranges from completely DIY application and hence Free applications such as GOOGLE ALERTS to highly professional applications such as Brand24, Mention, Localclarity etc. to name a few.
Reputation Slayers
In the Internet domain there are basically two types of negative Chatter you should be aware of:
- Social media Complaints: This is the least dangerous among the rest. Yes, these grievances needs to be addressed appropriately, but normally they may not impact your company in a big way.
- Online Digital Bombs: This terminology is coined by the digital marketing expert Neil Patel. This involves
- negative reviews appear in product review sites such as Rip off report or shopping portals like Amazon which could seriously impact your sales and brand reputations in a big way.
- Hate Sites : Sometimes people go beyond review sites and create hate sites simply to malign your reputation. Sometimes they may upload malicious and fabricated content and use abusive language.
- Negative Media Coverage: This is the most serious of them all. Unfavourable reporting in leading media websites and their official social media platforms could cause irreparable damage to your reputation and hence needs to be addressed very urgently.
Donning the Crisis Management Hat
Let us address the defence options now. How should one tackle the aforementioned line of attacks and unethical or illegal behaviour? Based on the severity of the problem, one can employ various line of options as follows:
Any content listing, if that do not appear in the fist two pages of Search listings, then it is as good as dead wood. So, the moment someone lists false information, the first defence you can have is unleashing a SEO strategy that lifts the ranking of positive content, owned by either you or third parties.
Is the content is simply false or fabricated with the sole aim of maligning your image OR whether the language is abusive with the intent to hurt and not to give feedback? If so, seek legal recourse and get it removed.
In case of serious and concerted attacks to your brand image, bring in professional digital forensic experts to get to the bottom of difficult reputation management cases. They employ several techniques such as email tracing, data cross-indexing, and other information collection techniques.
Six tenets on Online Reputation Management
Before we sign off here let us summarise the whole discussion into ten key practical tenets that could be useful in your organisation’s Reputation management journey.
Its impossible in the current digital universe to avoid criticism or negative vibes. But if you consistently do commendable work then the positive revebs it unleashes would quell the in between negative snickering.
Ensure all your processes and policies easily accessible to all and be the first to open-up if there are any missteps happened along the way. That way you effectively nip any opportunities your detractors may otherwise have in the bud itself.
An organised and regular monitoring of Social Medial Chatter about your organisation can have additional benefits other than ORM alone. You could get a first-hand idea about your customers’ requirements, their expectations etc which can be acted upon
Time is of essence in ORM and hence you need to react quickly. But ensure your response should be well measured and couched in diplomacy even against the most malicious falsehoods.
If you make a mistake, admit it. Also apprise the public how you are going to ensure this will not be repeated. Honesty and openness would always trigger respect amongst your followers.
If you are convinced that the rubbish generated online is part of a larger conspiracy to malign your reputation, take instant and assertive action. Take legal help if necessary and expose the culprits. By acting passive, you would only be emboldening your adversaries to repeat the same.
