Protect your online reputation at all cost!
The internet can be an unforgiving and unforgettable place. It keeps track of what an organisation or executive did out there. In the last year 2020, we live in a pressure chamber, there is a high risk that if there is anything negative floating around, the internet will discover it and exacerbate it.
We strive to develop conversations as communicators. However, there are dozens of small, hyper-connected cultural groups on the internet that use their networks to shape narratives, frequently using brands as tools to drive their agendas online.
With the internet quickly circulating content, the problem is that if a storey becomes popular online, it is automatically perceived as true. This creates an impossible scenario for communicators. Your team is in a blind panic – react or strategise?
How To React to Negative Search Results
Worse, if you’ve been targeted online, there’s a 75% chance it will happen within about six months. Traditional social listening does not warn you about such an incident until it is too late to defend the company’s reputation. It’s been days, if not weeks before some tiny agenda-driven party first uncovered the damaging facts. Maybe it’s an old tweet, a political contribution, or a video—and you had no clue you were about to be taken down from the internet.
So, how do brand communicators accurately classify threats and prospects inside online communications in order to prevent the long-term consequences of being cancelled?
It breaks down to three key ideas:
- Ring the Alarm at the Initial level:
Agenda-driven online communities know how to harness the internet’s ability to drive impact. Brand communicators must consider what drives people to follow a storey in the initial stages. Check for signs that the accounts in communication aren’t genuine:
- Are they created within the last 2-3 months?
- Is there a difference in the number of fans they have and others they follow?
- Do they write several times in a few minutes?
These are the initial indicators that an agenda-driven community is promoting a storey that has the capacity to go viral. Recognizing how to spot these early warning signs will enable you to assess the risk and start preparing for something potentially dangerous.
- Prepare for Round 2…and 3!
A well-executed disinformation campaign never really expires. This means you must be always prepared. Invest in further identifying the groups that are involved in and shaping debates around your brand, both constructive and negative. Look beyond the number of shares and likes. Analyze particular communities to understand who they are, what other groups they communicate with, and how they interact. Equipped with the knowledge of your rivals and the power of your supporters, you should formulate contact strategies to stay clear of potentially damaging strikes to your brand’s reputation.
- Lead with Purpose
87 per cent of Americans would consume a product because its parent corporation advocated for a cause that is important to them. Given that any brand behaviour (or inaction) will result in long-term reputation damage, it is critical that brands agree with their values and convey them publicly, from start to finish.
On an average day, this would improve positive support from the customers you value the most. In the case of an online assault or misinformation campaign, you will have a solid base to stand on and protect your value proposition organically.
Thirty-three per cent of customers said they avoided buying a brand whose pandemic reaction did not meet their expectations. We should predict peer-to-peer persuasion to increase as we spend more time online. It can be difficult to navigate this contact minefield.
Those who peer at all corners of the internet, where viral trends begin, and those that are prepared to adapt based on trust in the compatibility of their brand values with their most valued consumers, will gain an advantage.
