The new year is here and it’s time to take control of your business’ online reputation. Negative press can spread very quickly and reputation repair can be very difficult.
Your online reputation should be taken as seriously as your offline reputation. Your company should have a comprehensive reputation management and reputation repair plan including how to manage your social media accounts properly, being aware of what is being said online, and how to respond to negative press in a professional, timely manner.
In his article, Kevin Harrington explains the importance of having a good action plan in place. He offers great tips for managing your online reputation and repairing one that has been damaged.
- Create Google Alerts for your company, products, and top executives.
- Create social profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Tumblr, and Pinterest.
- Create a public relations strategy and use it frequently.
- Create positive postings for the major social media outlets.
- Create a YouTube channel and populate it early and often.
- Create an online forum and closely monitor what’s being posted there.
Kevin’s tips for repairing your damaged reputation.
- Own up to your indiscretions – You can’t be blindsided if you control the story from the start. Be honest and spell out the circumstances surrounding a blemish on your record or your company’s history.
- Apologize – When you’re wrong, you’re wrong. And there’s nothing the public loves more than a public apology. Just be sure you sound sincere rather than defiant or defensive. Then get back to business and make sure there’s no more dirt to dig up.
- Seek and destroy – We’re talking about the source of pain – not the competition or person who may have uncovered an issue with you or your company. It’s not always easy to have a damning post or video removed from the web, but it is in your best interest to work your butt off to do just that.
- Take control – Review the creative strategy we laid out above and start working on it. The best way to polish a reputation is to do so on your own terms. Make sure you roll out positive news and content on a regular basis. It’ll make it harder for anyone with a grudge to ruin your reputation.
