Damaged Reputation: What to Do
Your business's reputation is invaluable. Discover the algorithm of actions for reputation restoration, from analyzing the damage to implementing long-term strategies for maintaining a positive image.
Nothing is more important than your business’s reputation. It builds customer trust and loyalty, gives you a competitive edge, and even helps to secure top talent.
Finding out your reputation has been damaged can be a tough blow. But not all is lost. With the right strategies, you can gain back public confidence.
Reputation Restoration: Algorithm of Actions
Analysis: The first step in reputation restoration is to evaluate the current situation. If you need to restore your company’s reputation, it’s likely in response to negative content, such as a media article about the brand. It's essential to conduct a reputational audit to understand the full scope of the situation.
This involves:
- Creating a semantic core, which includes the brand name or company products.
- Identifying the most frequent search queries related to your brand.
- Analyzing mentions and determining their tone. What topics are most frequently discussed? What are the pros and cons highlighted by customers?
- Evaluating the distribution of negative, positive, and neutral mentions and the platforms they are posted on.
Tools like IQBuzz, YouScan, and Brand Analytics can help gather these mentions and monitor reputation. Manual checks can be done for smaller brands, but larger brands might require automated systems to avoid errors.
Anti-crisis Restoration of Reputation: Sometimes, threats to your reputation arise unexpectedly, like a scandal that gains media attention. In such cases, the analysis phase might be shortened. The primary focus here is rapid response to quell the scandal. This could be a public statement from company representatives, a press conference, or a publication in the media.
Responsiveness: After understanding the current situation, a plan for reputation restoration must be formed. Typically, the first step is addressing existing negative feedback. It's crucial to respond to criticism, showing customers that their opinions matter.
SERM (Search Engine Reputation Management): SERM involves managing search engine results. For instance, if a potential customer searches for a product and sees a negative review at the top of the search results, it can harm the brand's reputation. SERM ensures that users see positive or neutral information when they search for your business.
New Content: New content can include reviews, articles, videos, forum posts, social media posts, and more. Initially, the new content has specific tasks, like pushing negative content down in search results. In the long term, content is still crucial. It’s part of a more complex reputation strategy and aims to increase audience loyalty and trust.
How Often Do You Need to Conduct Reputation Improvement Activities?
A company’s reputation can change due to various factors. For instance, a company might scale up, leading to a drop in service quality. Or a new competitor might use BlackPR methods to discredit its rivals. This is why it is best to be constantly monitoring your reputation, especially online. Reputation management should be a regular activity. If you’ve been forced to do it because of negative PR, continue to do it even after the scandal has passed.
Maintaining a positive reputation is crucial for any business. Whether you're dealing with a sudden crisis or aiming for long-term reputation management, it's essential to have a clear and ongoing strategy in place.
If you need assistance with reputation management, whether it's an urgent anti-crisis response, comprehensive restoration, or just regular monitoring, reach out to Choice OMG for help.