No one wants to be bad-mouthed online.
Chances are that if you’re in business, you’ve inadvertently run into a problem with at least one customer over the years. There was a time when that customer might have come directly to you to address their dissatisfaction, but there are thriving Web communities dedicated solely to talking about those issues now, where customers can commiserate over their bad experiences.
As a result, the need to be aware of what’s being said online about your company is rising accordingly. Only by seeing it firsthand can you take steps to reach out to customers, address concerns and ensure the Internet at-large doesn’t think less of your company and start to impact your business. Let’s hit some of the key points of image protection, with a little help from The Globe and Mail.
Finding Out What They’re Saying
If you want to know what’s being written about your company on the Internet, the quickest way to do so is to set up Google Alerts with key search terms. Generally speaking, you want to put your company name in there, as well as any variables that will help you turn up positive or negative results. Ideally, you’ll be getting those delivered to your e-mail inbox once a day.
What do you do with that information? Investigate! If you’re turning up at message boards or blogs, head there and get the lay of the land. If it’s not an outright hostile environment for you to be in, sign up for an account and address the concerns directly. This is a proactive approach and one that carries considerable weight, but you have to avoid becoming combative and know you’re not walking into a hornet’s nest ahead of time. That’s what we in the business call a bad idea.
You can also track comments on Twitter, Facebook and the major search engines, though that’s likely to take you more time. You may want to limit those sweeps to once a week if you’re busy, and chances are good that you are.
Bringing In The Big Guns
If you’re overwhelmed by the amount of information out there, or if you’re finding a litany of slanderous remarks about your company, there are more direct ways to tackle the problem.
Hiring a company like Reputation.com Inc., for example, will give you professional help in tracking down those comments and dealing with them. This company and others like it bill themselves as being able to provide professional services aimed at removing untruthful information from the online realm and helping you promote a “truthful” image. I imagine that comes with its own set of challenges, but it’s better than letting lies….well, lie.
Although it’s tempting, don’t be litigious except as a last resort. Your goal is to win customers over or quietly take care of slander, not get into a protracted public relations battle with “the little guy” that will damage your brand and cost you thousands, if not millions, in court costs.
How do you manage your reputation online? Let us know!
Photo credit goes to http://blog.easysubmission.net/
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