I agree that tracking and responding to issues around your online reputation is key. I find the following 9 steps to be a useful guideline in correcting an online brand attack.

I always believe that one needs to approach the situation with humility, thinking you’re too big, busy or powerful to deal with the issue is a sure way to inflame the situation.

I think listening is the next step, not only listening out for the obvious angry customer, but also making use of ORM companies, like BrandsEye, to track what is being said online. This will allow you to deal with the more silent but equally dangerous disgruntled customers.

Always act immediately; the sooner you deal with the situation, the less the negative message will spread. Furthermore you are more likely to get positive press if the situation is quickly dealt with.

True criticism is harder to deal with, but I find providing your side of the story along with a sincere apology goes along way. Then try your hardest to get the story offline, it’s much less likely to spread. If you can’t get the story offline then push it as far down the search engine results as possible. Good SEO can help here.

Throughout the story maintain communication and continue to engage, responding once is unlikely to make it go away keep the conversation going as long as is necessary to correct the issue, otherwise it will simply flare up again and you will have to start from scratch.

Care about the issue, treat every customer like they are the only one and you will go a long way to maintaining a good relationship.

Finally be prepared, online brand attacks can happen anytime. Preparation includes creating credibility online now, so that when you need to fight an online battle later you have something to work with. Also identifying some vulnerable areas may help plan for attacks later on.

Would be great to hear some tips from you, always good to share ORM strategy.

Regards

Tim Shier
MD
BrandsEye
@brandseye