One aspect of crisis management that has really come to the forefront in the past few years has been online reputation management. The reason this field is growing so rapidly is due to the nature of the Internet. It is most certainly a double-edged sword; communication is so fast and widespread that, if you satisfy your customers, many, many people will be able to see that. The negative is that, of course, if you upset someone, even through no wrongdoing of your own, a lot of people are going to hear. In a recent blog post Jeremy Martin, Internet Marketing Consultant, offered his “Do’s and Don’t of Online Reputation Management,” and one caught my eye.
Do: Create a plan of action. If you notice a couple of negative reports or complaints listed on the first page of search results you have got to find a way to push them off the first page and get them as far down the results as you can. A few really great ways you can do this are by submitting a Press Release to various PR distribution sites such as PRWeb.comm, PR.com and PRnewswire.com.. You can start a new blog that is about your company’s products or services. Make sure you share the good information about your business such as favorable stats or testimonials. Join forums related to your niche and contribute useful, relevant information.
This is great advice, but I would go a step further than Jeremy and say that you need to have that crisis response plan ready before you even begin doing business online. The faster your response, whether it be directly contacting the customer, creating sites to get your own story out, blogging, or some other means, the more effective it will be.
JB
Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com