The online world is permanent. Once something is out there, it would only take a miracle for people not to notice it. That’s probably why it is the bane for many companies who do not like to have any sort of negative content that might be directed at their business. Content development for any company needs to have a balance of neutrality so that it appeals to all those who are involved or attached to the company. However, because we live in a society that gets easily offended by anything and everything, creating neutral content can get a bit tricky. And that’s where online reputation management comes in.
As a company which deals with fixing online reputations for different clients among other services, Online Defamation Defenders has had its fair share of clients asking if controlled content is really necessary when it comes to handling a business’s online reputation. The short answer is yes. The term ‘mountain out of a molehill’ can be easily used for all those situations where a problem was created for company simply because there was something about the product which did not appeal to the people. Take the Starbucks Christmas debacle, for instance. With Christmas around the corner, Starbucks gave out drinks in plain red cups, which highly offended those who stated that Starbucks didn’t understand the true holiday spirit.
Fast-forward a few weeks later, Starbucks again came under fire because a vast amount of individuals felt that their polar bear cookies which were decorated with small icing of draped scarves resembled slashed necks and blood and gore. Although far-fetched, these ridiculous allegations created quite a few problems for the company – which they were able to overcome because of their other customers’ common sense.
However, maintaining the content for your business isn’t just about social media and the thoughts that circulate in them. Monitoring and assessing your online reputation depends on search engine optimization. Giving the customers something good to read or see automatically increases your chances of having a positive online reputation.
One example of this is the famous Coca Cola. Now, Coca Cola has been known for creating some beautiful advertisements which end up bringing tears and laughter, which in turn creates a good reputation for their product as well as for their marketing team. However, as said before, there needs to be a balance between proper researches on content and agreeable content that is related to the company’s reputation and product. One advertisement of Coca Cola which showed a group of Caucasian youngsters bringing coke to a Mexican village got under fire for being ‘super-offensive’ as it indicated a modern version of white man’s burden and how some Caucasian hipsters were able to bring the miracle of Coca Cola to a village which did not know much about the outside world.
Using the right content to show a proper image of your company is crucial. Harm can come to a company’s reputation at any time and by being vigilant and using the right online reputation management services to improve that reputation is important. Blog entries, press conferences or product discontinuation can all contribute to the company’s positive content and by using the right management; business can properly be associated with the right content and reputation.