Reputation management road map: Navigating challenges with confidence
It’s frustrating to know all of the hard work and time you put into your business can be wiped clean when someone posts something in an online review that’s inaccurate or a misconception of the actual situation. It’s worse when an employee makes a mistake and your company’s name is used in the press. Reputation management isn’t simple, but there are steps you can take to help build your business back up.
You can always turn to companies like Status Labs for one-on-one guidance, especially because professional support like this can be critical in some situations. But what can you do right now? Consider this reputation management road map of how to move forward.
Know your online reputation
The first step every company needs to take is to know where they stand. Monitoring your online reputation may seem complicated, but you need to change your thought process. If you were a customer, where would you go to learn about a company like yours? If you were traveling, you might turn to TripAdvisor, for example. If you wanted to buy a product, you may start with Google reviews.
Know what’s being said across the board about your company. Some organizations, like Status Labs, do a great job of digging deep to discover what’s being said, where it’s being said, and what can be done about it.
Create an action plan
Reputation management for small businesses should always focus on a step-by-step plan to address the negative and to feed more positivity into the internet. Your plan should address the following:
- Where the negative content is.
- How to get positive content in its place.
- Who will carry on ongoing reputation management for your company.
- Who will respond to content and comments.
- What your ultimate goal is for what you want people to know about your business.
Create a plan for handling negative comments
Negative comments are generally the biggest concern for many businesses that need reputation management. The key here is to address them in a professional, polite, and friendly manner.
Any type of negative undertones are easily picked up online, and you want to be sure you’re not implying anything that could be taken the wrong way. Instead, detrimental information shouldn’t necessarily be ignored or spotlighted, but should be appropriately addressed to minimize the fallout.
Work to build the positive
Ultimately, it’s not just about going after the negative but building the positive, too. Utilize a variety of strategies to help you to do this:
- Create new content that focuses on the positive work your company is doing.
- Work to build out your social media campaigns to incorporate more customer-focused engagement.
- Focus on developing a blog that offers insight that can refute claims.
- Work to get positive reviews out there for your business. This is critical. You want to ensure that even though one person may have something negative to say, there are plenty of others with constructive comments.
- Expand content about key players in your company who may have erred in some way. For example, if an employee had some bad press, work to build out content on them that’s positive. Incorporate good SEO measures.
Track your results
Online reputation management isn’t a one-time effort. It’s an ongoing process that must be managed from a high level. You need to be the all-seeing company leader who knows what’s being said about the company, building up positivity over time.
Don’t wait to do something. Even as a small business, every review, every bit of news, and every positive action matters in how your company will be perceived. Be confident in what your company is and what it represents. Make sure others know what the options are.
