Reputation Management
“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” The same is true for the Internet. Unfortunately, everyone is watching the Internet when it happens, so this may not always be a good thing. The first half of reputation management is the act of monitoring the Internet to find references to a company, the industry or market the company competes in, or the company’s target keywords. Once these references are identified, the second part of reputation management is the process of quickly molding those references into a series of marketing platforms.
As the Internet evolves, reputation management becomes increasingly important for companies. In most consumer focused industries, reputation management is already a vital component of any marketing plan. The need is so strong because of the inherent risks associated with the Internet. The two riskiest aspects of the modern day Internet are due to its open communication nature.
The first risk stems from everyone’s ability to say what they think about a product, a service, or a company. When people experience something good they may tell one person. However, when the average person has a bad experience, they are likely to tell as many as five people. The Internet is no different. If a web savvy customer is somehow offended, they may write a negative comment on five different websites. Your best customers may say one unique positive thing about you throughout the entire course of the relationships. Reputation Management focuses on embracing the negative comments and identifying ways to spin a negative remark into a sincere attempt to provide your customers with a better product or service and thereby promote your high standards.
The second danger is that of missed opportunities. When an Internet search is not conclusive, people ask questions. When questions get answered, search engines mark these as dynamic conversations. These dynamic conversations are promoted up the ranks of search engine results. Reputation management practices leverage these conversations on the Internet to assist a potential consumer, answer their question, and then establish your credibility and expertise. Best of all, it is done under the watchful eye of the search engines. Over time, these practices will increase search engine results and establish the brand and values of your company.
The greatest downfall of reputation management is the amount of effort required to be effective. This style of marketing is unlike other traditional and Internet marketing techniques. Reputation management is not a fire and forget model of marketing. Because of the required investment in time, tools, and training many companies ignore the practice entirely.
This risk of ignoring reputation management is probably most evident in the United Airlines guitar breaking fiasco. UA refused to replace a $180 guitar. The passenger then posted a video on YouTube about his experience. UA was unaware of the video or its popularity. Within a week, over a million viewers had watched a four minute musical ad that trashed UA’s customer support policies. A good reputation management program would have caught the video and allowed UA to fix the problem stopping its spread quickly.
Score Consulting and Reputation Management
Score Consulting has invested in the tools and training necessary to conduct effective reputation management campaigns. Because of these investments, we are able to identify new opportunities both good and bad very quickly. This rapid response allows us to work with our customers to make the most of every reference on the Internet. If the reputation of your company is important, contact us today to gauge the current state of your organizations reputation and build a plan to improve it.
