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Your Online Reputation: Quashing Online Nastiness Isn't Always Possible, but This is How to Cope

As Michelle Conlin points out in a recent BusinessWeek article, search engines have given voice to anyone with an Internet connection and an opinion. As she mentions, “trashing brands” online can often be “high theater.”

Vulnerable to the Sneak Attack

The promise of the Internet was the free and open sharing of ideas and innovations. This openness has become an ideal place for doing business, and has helped many businesses grow to new prominence – even those that are exclusively bricks-and-mortar concerns.

But how do businesses adjust to the new vulnerability of an online story that explodes suddenly and from nowhere? More specifically, what can marketers do to prevent or minimize these public relations equivalents of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) – arriving out of nowhere and threatening grave damage to a brand?

What You Can Do Now

Fundamentally, the answer is to plan ahead. Every marketer should know the unique vulnerability of his or her company’s offering. These should be clearly spelled out in a comprehensive brand SWOT analysis (Strengths / Weaknesses / Opportunities / Threats).

With this knowledge, scenarios can be outlined that can give some idea of the nature – if not the direction – of the bombshell that might go off.

The tips above can also help. Nelson Schmidt has engaged in this type of online reputation management, and would be pleased to provide more information about each of the tactics listed. Contact Nelson Schmidt today to learn more.

 

 

 

 

Preparing for the Worst Just as many PR disasters can be anticipated and “prepped” for, here are ways to plan for a sudden fire whose flames are fanned by the Internet: Monitor Search Engines and Blogs There are many tools that act as a watch tower, helping you spot a potentially negative PR issue before it fully erupts. Find someone internally or use your agency to keep watch for you. Consider Conversing with Online Communities Now Decide if engaging with user-generated content is appropriate for your brand. If it is, dive in now. The time to have your employees online, commenting on stories and issues, is before a disaster happens. Respond with Openness – Quickly! Prepare a response that is sincere and plausible, and then get it out through the same channels as the damaging stories. Speed of response is essential. Virtuous News is News Too Fight negative news with positive. If an individual is targeted, talk about his or her contributions both professionally and to the community. Good stories won’t spread as quickly, but they will share space with the negatives in search engine results. They also provide opportunities for conversations with those reporting on the negative issues.