Reputation Management: 3 Tips for Rapid Response to Negative Posts

In emerging reputation management situations, the best way to assume control of the conversation is to provide a fast and effective response. This early engagement, when executed properly, can show that your business prioritizes customer sentiment, allows you to guide the conversational thread, and gives you the best chance for a speedy conclusion of the issue. Here are 3 tips that can help your business respond to negative posts in the most effective manner possible:

* Set news alerts on Google for high value keywords – This is a free service that will monitor breaking news on keywords such as the name of your business, products, and key personnel. The service then provides emails with links to emerging news stories that contain the keywords that you have put on the alert list.
* Monitor social networks for comments, inquiries, complaints, etc. Surveys show that approximately 3 out of 5 consumers on social networks will expect a response to questions and other communications, a ratio that is likely to increase over time. Generally speaking, the high bar for engaging with these customers to address specific issues stands at one hour, but a reasonably quick response will usually suffice.
* Prioritize responses to posts that cite a specific issue – Posts that are based on a specific topic enable a fast response that can solve the issue quickly, which can turn a frustrated customer into a happy one. On the other hand, rambling posts should be assessed to determine whether a solution is possible or not and then be handled accordingly.

Addressing online reputation management issues quickly can resolve small issues before they become big problems. Additionally, providing fast solutions to customer issues can convey your company’s commitment to delivering a positive customer experience, which can turn potential problems into profitable opportunities.

The Latest in Reputation Management Solicitations

It wasn't too long ago that a window company on the east coast got busted for driving around town breaking windows in hopes of seeing the victims the next morning as eager customers. The same opportunity exists for the lower rung of reputation management companies. Post some negative content on a complaint board, wait for it to surface on the search engines, and then make the call offering a solution to the company’s newfound problem.
  
While the reputation management industry has tons of ethical companies that can legitimately solve negative content issues, the guys that are soliciting business based on “breaking windows” should be avoided.

If you want to do some due diligence, take a look at what they’re doing for themselves in terms of reputation management and search their company name to see how they’re ranking. The third strike here will be if their website looks and reads like it was put together by a third grader.

Here’s another thing to watch out for; reputation management companies that tell you that they can get negative comments about your company removed from the web, much like credit repair companies removing dings from your credit report.

The issue here is that the web makes it very easy for anyone to have a voice on any opinion from anywhere that internet access is available. Unless the comments about your company cross the line of libel or slander, the content is going to stay put for a long time. It will not be removed.

Generally speaking, if there is negative content on the web that is damaging your business, a reputation management firms will create new articles, blogs, forum entries, comments, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and other forms of content to drop the rankings of the negative content on the search engine results pages.

The ease of dropping the rankings of negative content will depend on how much there is and where it originated. If authority sites are involved or if it appears to be a concerted effort, bringing in the pros is your best bet. In these situations, creating and optimizing content that will drop the negative content will likely be a long and arduous process that you’re probably not going to have time to execute properly.

For more information, visit: http://www.reputationmanagementllc.com/ or call (866) 530 7703.

How to Make Your Reputation Management Problem Worse

Reputation management, which is basically search engine optimization on a larger scale, can solve a lot of problems when done correctly and create more trouble when done using the wrong methods. In reputation management, problems tend to surface when businesses try to solve the problem on their own or rush into a management campaign without considering the implications of what they’re doing. While these actions are understandable, especially when negative content is damaging a company, they often create bigger problems than the one they’re trying to fix.

How does this happen?

• Buying links – This practice can help to raise rankings for selected content in the short run but can result in being penalized by the search engines if it is discovered. The most common way to buy links is through link farms which Google typically black lists when they find them. The most recent company to be penalized for paid links is JC Penney, which saw pages ranked on page one virtually disappear when Google took action against them.

• Comment Spamming - This is very common SEO/reputation management tactic, which is used to build back links. When spammy comments are posted on reputable or competing blogs and forums they are usually flamed quickly, making the company look worse than it did before the posting.

• Creating poorly written content – This is another way in which companies fall on their face while trying to battle negative content. This type of content usually goes out when a company is trying to cut corners or to get as much content out as fast as possible. Content of this nature is usually pretty transparent and reflects poorly on the company, especially if it is being generated under company owned properties.

• Fake product reviews – Always glowing; these reviews are treated as spam and disregarded. If they’re posted at a review farm the opinion of readers drops even further. 

Before you start a reputation management campaign, consider the implications and whether you should hire a professional reputation management company. For more information, visit: http://www.reputationmanagementllc.com/ or call (866) 530 7703.8th, 2011line Reputation

Online Reputation Management Mythology

Brand management practices have been used by companies of all sizes for decades. It’s puzzling then to see that so many companies have yet to implement an online reputation management process to protect the brands that have taken so long to build. Part of the reason for not moving forward here probably lies in some of the myths that surround the practice of online reputation management.

Here are four of the big ones:

1) Online reputation management is an expense we can’t afford – The expense of reputation management really depends on whether an active campaign is being run or whether you’re just monitoring. Google Alerts and Technorati track online mentions for selected keywords like company and product names for free. If, on the other hand, you’re dealing with an attack of negative content the cost of a reputation management campaign can be a fraction of sales lost due to poor reviews or an attack from a competitor.

2) Online reputation management is for companies with bad reputations – This is absolutely false. Online reputation management can protect you from negative publicity but it can also be used to promote positive messaging about your company. People now go online for news, product releases, and research. If they’re finding positive commentary about your company because of your reputation management activity they’re going to be coming your way.

3) Online reputation management only works for companies doing business online – Most people that are going to go online to air grievances don’t care whether the company does business online or not. They’re going to rip the company regardless. Searchers are still going to see the negative content and it’s still going to cost the targeted company.

4) Online reputation management isn’t ethical – Like any industry, there are people that abuse the system for their own gains. Astroturfing, sockpuppeting, and spamming are a few examples of unethical practices. The fact is the companies that last do business the right way and deliver results to clients that protect their online reputations.

Reputation management provides an effective and relatively inexpensive defense that can save a company’s reputation and its sales. For more information on online reputation management for your business, visit: http://www.reputationmanagementllc.com/ or call (866) 530 7703.

ORM Toyota How not to Conduct Online Reputation Management

It wasn’t too long ago that corporations had defined processes for handling consumer correspondence, complaints, and/or product defects. In today’s environment where information can get around the world in a second, the corporations which are still relying on slow moving and methodical response processes are paying the price in terms of the online reputation of their brands, products and services.

Toyota is a great example of a corporation which was slow to react to a major issue and then paid a steep price once things spun out of control. With an accidental acceleration issue that had been in existence for some time, the company was slow to take measures to fix the problem and then way behind the curve as accounts hits the newswires and the web. Their slow reaction to both the original issue and the public outcry has become a case study for reputation management; unfortunately for Toyota the case study is used to demonstrate how not to manage a public relations nightmare.

While Toyota is in the financial position to throw money at the problem until it goes away, most businesses cannot afford the kind of runaway publicity that hammered the car company. Here are three ways to stay ahead of potential problems so they remain manageable and don’t harm your company’s online reputation:

1) Monitor the web – Whether it’s one of your employees talking about your company or a group on a social network talking about issues with your most recent product release, you need to know what is being said. The upside here is that you may find great ideas for product or service upgrades by following what is being said by customers and other industry experts.

2) Be a valuable part of the community – Being involved in activities and discourse related to your industry raises your level of authority in the minds of your customers and others in the industry. Becoming a media resource on current events in your industry is another way build authority.

3) Respond quickly – If things turn negative it’s very unlikely that they will go away on their own. Engage quickly to get ahead of the issue before it really blows up.

Managing online reputation is an investment that can pay off in a wide variety of ways. For more information, visit http://www.reputationmanagementllc.com/ or call (866) 530 7703.