Reputation Management
Ever had someone write a negative review or article about your company? It doesn’t feel very good. Hope it never happens to you, but if it does, you gotta get proactive in a hurry. Deal with negative article head-on rather than take a “wait to see what happens” attitude. There is no other way.
Negative Search Result Contents Impact the Brand:
- Sales — Potential customers looking for information about your business will leave
- Business Partnerships — Existing or future business relationships could suffer
- Funding — Lenders may limit capital gain access or raise rates if they suspect your business is at risk
- Employee Retention — Employee turnover and hiring costs increase if your brand reputation tanks
- Market Capitalization — A company’s stock price may fall as investors flee for safer investments
Crisis Recovery Plans Explore/Define:
- Internal/external stakeholders
- Primary spokespeople for each communication channel
- Communication infrastructure and redundancies
- Decision-making chain of command
- Access to emergency funds
- Holding statements
- Contingency plans
Digital Marketing Boosts Brand Reputation
To fix your brand’s negative content following a crisis then recover … understand how your search engine is involved. For example, Google’s algorithms use hundreds of ranking signals to determine the most relevant web pages for each search query. One such signal is topical relevance.
- Through repetition, search engines then use topical relevance to draw connections between concepts (even if previously unrelated). So, Google may favor content about a corporate crisis if excessive articles recently published connect your brand with the event.
- One solution is paid content — sponsored posts and earned media such as PR — to generate positive articles about your brand. Starbucks recently used this strategy to shift their brand’s narrative from racial bias training to banning plastic straws.
Reputation Management with No SEO Fails
SEO is labor-intensive and costly, but reputation management doesn’t work without a search engine optimization component. Publishing great content is only part of the strategy; you also must apply SEO best practices to rebuild your search landscape.
Optimize Your Social Profile and Post Regularly
Social networks rank very well for branded search queries. To be effective Google must receive properly coded and ‘active’ signals. Your profiles should include contact information, addresses, as well as a description highlighting your company’s name. Link it back to your website’s homepage, blog page, and other trusted sites.
Promote Your Best Online Content
Determine which favorable company mentions you want ranked on Google’s first page, then share these articles with your social channels to increase visibility and build backlinks to them. When appropriate include your brand name in the article’s title to help improve rankings.
SEO and digital marketing are the drivers of effective reputation management. Taking a proactive approach to brand protection allows you to attract potential customers and stave off negative or damaging news.
Pat Dwight - HQZ Experts