Even if you take every precaution to protect your business online, reputation crises can still happen. They might stem from an angry former employee, a misstep in the media, or a poorly received social media post.
Regardless of the reason these issues occur, it’s vital that you respond properly to mitigate damage. In this article, we discuss the fundamentals of brand reputation crisis management.Negative reviews might feel like the end of the world, but they aren’t something to get overly concerned about.
A single, honest negative review can even be beneficial.
Unless a reviewer makes multiple posts containing crude or libelous language, there is no reason to stray from your standard response protocols.
If you’re going to handle a reputation crisis, you need to hear about it first. Create a Google alert for your company’s name and any other related terms.
Should your business make an appearance in the news you will be made aware of it quickly. Similarly, it’s important to practice social media monitoring and keep a close eye on your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages in case someone starts bombarding them with inflammatory comments.
You can never anticipate when a PR crisis will occur. If you're not using an online reputation management service, having an internal plan in place will prevent unnecessary panic and resulting in poor decisions.
To start, create a response team in charge of managing communication efforts in the event of a crisis. As a team, run through a variety of potential scenarios and determine the best path to take for each.
Finally, appoint a spokesperson to speak on behalf of your company if ever necessary. With enough preparation, you will be able to respond to any issue quickly in a professional and polished manner.
Concerned customers are not interested in learning a fun fact about your company’s mascot. If your business is in a crisis period, every message sent to the public should be appropriately serious and demonstrate that you are focused on the issue at hand.
As part of your plan, delegate someone the task of pausing all future social media posts until the situation is resolved.
In certain situations, it’s important to defend yourself against accusations. Other times it makes more sense to accept the blame and issue an apology.
That decision is up to you, but recognize the goal of crisis management: limit bad press and return to your regularly scheduled program as quickly as possible.
Be willing to swallow your pride if that’s what is best for your business in the long run.
Even the best crisis management response may not win back every customer, and you shouldn’t expect it to. Don’t waste energy on the people who choose not to return to your business. Instead, focus on getting back to serving your loyal customers. While it may take some time for your reputation to rebound, remaining patient and level-headed will ensure that it does.
Though it can be tempting, you should never respond to libelous or insulting claims while you're still angry. A knee-jerk reaction can result in saying something regretful and upsetting additional customers, so take the necessary time to prepare and proofread a public statement.
For extra security, hire an outside reputation management service. They help take emotion out of the equation and ensure that your business is represented in a professional light.
At Widewail, we offer online reputation management solutions. Our team constantly monitors online reviews, Facebook posts, and Google Questions and Answers to ensure that our clients’ customers receive the best possible service. If any larger issues arise, we will alert you and provide advice on how to proceed. Our review generation software Invite will help get your business more reviews, offsetting any unflattering feedback you may have received.
Hey, Jane here. Thanks for reading. Next, I recommend Widewail's review response examples guide. The response team and I have responded to 270,000 reviews since Widewail's beginning. In that time we've developed, practiced, and perfected the techniques explained in this guide. Learn review response from 19 real-world examples, covering how you can handle 19 unique response scenarios. Download the Guide 👇