It doesn’t matter if you’re a mom-and-pop store or a mega conglomerate that caters to a million people; if you mess up something online, the world will know about it. This is why when it comes to online reputation management; businesses try to tread carefully on the line between acceptable online behavior and downright scandalous incidents.
For example, big companies such as Old Spice, Taco Bell and Charmin have had their fair share of negative reviews, but rather than removing them as is the common practice with negative attention, each company decided to use cultural references and sarcasm as a way of replying which not only created humorous situations for many but it also created brand value amongst their followers and fans.
So how was it that these companies did not come to any harm from these situations? It was because they did not follow the usual myths related to businesses.
1. Ignoring Negative Reviews
A single bad review has the ability to tarnish your reputation. As an online reputation management service, we at Online Defamation Defenders have observed that what matters for the visitors is how you respond to those reviews. Ignoring them will definitely make matters worse. Some reviews can be especially damaging when angry clients vent out their frustration, often times exaggerating the scenario. In this instance, you’re left with little option than removing negative reviews. Whatever you do, do not ignore them. Companies hire reputation management services to take care of any feedback which might have an impact on the customer traffic.
2. It is Admissible to Publish Fake Reviews
Fake reviews are a big negative mark for your business. Firstly, it’s very easy for other people to find if your reviewers are fake or not, and if a customer finds that a reviewer is fake, then this will cause them to deem your business a fraud. Even sites like Yelp and Amazon have filters now which remove the fake reviews from their pages. The best way to get genuine and positive feedback is to simply satisfy customers with your product and services and not rely on fakeness to promote your business.
3. It’s Okay if Your Company Name Doesn’t Appear on Google
93% of all links that people use come from the first page of their Google search, so thinking that perhaps it’s a good thing that your page doesn’t appear on Google is just about the worst thing you can do. This is why many companies rely on their SEO content to make sure that their company name pops up on the first page of any Google search that is related to their keywords and products.
4. Not Understanding the Rules of Online Reputation
Not understanding copyright laws can create a lot of problems for your company. It shows that you are not serious about your own business, which in turns makes the customer think that perhaps you are not reliable. It can also push you into legal suits such as that of copyright infringement among others, which in turn can tarnish your reputation even more.
5. Employee Behavior Does Not Affect Your Company’s Reputation
From the ultra-competitive work atmosphere of Facebook to the heaven-on-earth atmosphere of Google, each has created a reputation for itself. This is because if the employees of these famous companies are not treated in the right way, their negative rants about policies, behavior and politics will create a negative reputation. In this situation, it takes more than just a few company picnics to fix their reputation, which is why these companies try to create a positive atmosphere where employees would actually want to come to work in the morning.
An online reputation can get damaged by just one incident of mishandling a comment. However, by following more diverse methods of problem solving, many companies are now creating new rules of successful business management and are even taking negative publicity in stride. Thus, they are making sure that nothing effects their online business reputation management.