Ten (10) Tips for Online Reputation and Crisis Management in the Digital World

As we increasingly live out our lives in the digital world, we are aware that reputation has become an essential part of both our lives, and businesses. I’ve encountered digitally, with many negative online reviews, complaints about a product or brand, and that made me realise that reputation is very fragile – even a minor mistake could eventually cause irreparable damage to a brand’s reputation or image. Often, we, as business owners, wish to remove a string of negative comments and feedback, just so to retain with our positive business reputation, but that too, is not the best strategy.

Now that social media is part and parcel of our everyday life, and reputation has always been everything; entrepreneurs have to be mindful that a social media crisis management plan – or even better, a crisis prevention plan, would be in place for when (or if) things go wrong.

Whilst there is extensive advice that can help you survive in times of crisis, Ekaterina Walter, author, speaker, and Forbes’ contributor in leadership, business culture, and marketing innovation content, shares with you a few basic rules that will mark a great start to managing your online reputation and crisis management.

Listen and Be Present

In the past, companies like The Gap have been accused of not responding to customers’ concerns about faulty merchandise or refund issues – simply because they were not set up to handle customer service problems through their social media channels. Unfortunately, in the digital age, not listening to the social chatter or having presence on social communities can reflect badly on your brand. Even responding with a simple link to the correct website page is helpful – and shows your customers you take them seriously.

And listen! Sometimes social listening tools will pick up the chatter about a topic that you may not expect and will give you time to address it before it blows up within the social stratosphere. Most of the brand disasters could have been prevented just by picking up the early chatter and being prepared to address it before it escalates.

Set the Right Expectations

If you are a small business or have limited bandwidth to respond to customer inquiries in real-time, then set the right expectations upfront on the timing within which people should expect your response. 24, 48, 72 hours… Be specific and make that expectation visible to ensure it is seen. But always stick to it.

Be Transparent, and React Promptly and Politely

Certain companies have been guilty of removing posts they didn’t agree with, ignoring those posts, or else claiming that they had been hacked, when they clearly hadn’t. Trying to cover up or remove justified but negative comments can make you look as if you are ignoring a problem or, worse off, don’t care about the customers.

It is critical to be honest and upfront about any issues you or your company may be facing. If you made a mistake, admit it, apologize, and do everything in your power to correct it. We are all human and humans make mistakes. Your customers don’t expect you and your teams to be perfect, just transparent and honest. They expect you treat them like family, a part of your tribe, and that means not betraying their trust with back-peddling and cover ups. 

In case of a customer complaint via Twitter, for example, a prompt and simple “We are aware of the problem. We are working on it and will get back to you as soon as possible.” is better than a late reply with more information.

Warren Buffet once said: 

Respond Thoughtfully

It’s worth putting some effort into writing a thoughtful reply aimed at addressing your customers’ concerns. Showing that you care about their experience and are willing to address problems (or even go above and beyond) is a great way of actually winning around critics and turning them into fans. 

According to The Retail Consumer Report, commissioned by RightNow and conducted online by Harris Interactive in January 2011, of those customers who received a reply in response to their negative review 33% turned around and posted a positive review, and 34% deleted their original negative review. 85% of consumers said they would be willing to pay anywhere between 5-25% over the standard price to ensure a superior customer experience.

Caring really pays off. It builds trust and allows you to further nurture relationships with your current customers. Word-of-mouth recommendation from your current satisfied customers is much more influential than your own brand messages, and they will bring new customers in.

Do Not Lose Your Cool – Ever

There may be times when you disagree with your customers. But being rude or attacking them in social forums is absolutely unacceptable. Provide the best information you can and do your best to satisfy every inquiry. If nothing helps and a customer insists on being rude and un-cooperative, just ignore him/her and move on; in those rare times, no matter what you do, nothing will probably be good enough.

And don’t take everything personally. The customer isn’t angry with you, (s)he frustrated with the product or a brand as a whole. Don’t take these interactions personally. Just do your best to help them out and move on.

Have a Crisis Management Team in Place

Going back to my first point…When you pick up a digital chatter around a specific issue, you have a great opportunity to address it before it blows up in your face. But be sure you have the way to quickly escalate and resolve the issue. This process should be a part of your overall crisis management plan. I suggest forming a team consisting of team members from PR, HR, legal, marketing, and other relevant teams that can come together to quickly craft and post a response that would quite down the chatter and will help solve the issue at hand.

Manage Access to your Social Media Accounts Carefully

There have been instances of employees posting personal updates to brand accounts not realising that they haven’t switched to the right account. Making sure you are limiting access to only knowledgeable community managers who have appropriate training with avoid mistakes such as these.

And then there is a process for managing access when employees switch jobs or leave the company altogether. When music retail chain HMV laid off a large number of its employees in January 2013, bosses didn’t realise their marketing team – who had been made redundant – still had access to the brand’s social media sites. The team went online to protest at the way the situation had been handled by executives, tweeting statements like “There are over 60 of us being fired at once! Mass execution of loyal employees who love the brand, #hmvXFactorFiring” before they were finally shut down.

Post-Moderation Guidelines

Most sites have their own Terms and Conditions, but you can also post your own moderation guidelines on your social media pages to make it obvious what behaviour will or will not be tolerated within your social communities. Being up-front about your “house rules” makes it simpler to take down offensive posts by referring to your rules and pointing out how they were violated.

Hire Experienced Community Managers to Monitor what they are Saying about you

There are still some organisations that treat social media communities like an afterthought and leave it to the interns to post an occasional tweet.

Your social media is every bit part of your brand image and reputation – so hire professionals! A community manager should be experienced, know your brand in and out, understand your brand’s voice and personality, and, most importantly, love your customers.

Community manager is a critical position that serves as a voice of a customer within your organisation, so don’t underestimate it. Plus, a seasoned community manager will know the right way to deal with disgruntled customers, be able to deal with social media take-over attempts, and know when to take the conversation off-line.

And Remember… 

Sometimes, as a leader and as a brand, you will have to be willing to be misunderstood. If you strongly believe in what you are doing or in a specific point of view, but some people don’t share the same opinion, you will have to be willing to stand by your decision.

In this case you will have to be prepared to be transparent and honest about it, share the reasons why you feel so strongly about the subject, and be prepared to calmly address the questions and criticism that come your way. That is where your social communities become even more important – this is the opportunity for your fans and your tribe (people who share your point of view and believe in the same vision) to chime in and help support your message/cause. In cases such as these organic brand love and advocacy are powerful allies in defending brand’s reputation and spreading brand’s message.

Inspiration: 10 Tips for Online Reputation and Crisis Management in the Digital World

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Chia Yi Jing | Bubbling with enthusiasm, bright ideas, and confidence, Yi Jing set foot in the PR world with Orchan Consulting, where she was offered permanent employment after a successful internship. She is determined to make her mark in the industry, and her bosses know that she will.