1:00 AM 11th January 2025
business
Image by Markus Winkler from Pixabay
It takes years of hard work, diligence and consistency to build a healthy brand, but just seconds to compromise it. Which is why reputation management should be considered all year-round, not as something that crops up when the worst has already happened. Have you planned for a PR crisis? Here are five compelling reasons why you should.
1.Prevention is far better than cure
Many business leaders think a PR crisis won’t happen to them and it’s not something most CEOs are prepared for, but the truth is it can happen to anyone. Without a plan in place, decision-making will be rushed, reactive, and potentially worsen the damage. With one, you can be ready to react, often before things escalate, using one or a combination of PR, legal, marketing and communication strategies.
Roz Sheldon,
We’re here to help if a crisis has already occurred, but I’d recommend businesses think about reputation management proactively rather than reactively. For example, using tools that monitor the way stakeholders and consumers talk about their business and seizing opportunities to improve perception on a regular basis are key. With proactive monitoring and planning, you’re also more likely to spot issues before they escalate, as well as tapping into valuable insights and the sentiment towards your brand.
Additionally, strengthening your business’s online presence consistently, and fostering positive communication with your customers and stakeholders, make it much easier to bounce back from any negative publicity and avoid backlash.
2. News lasts forever – PR crises can too
The saying ‘today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapper’ doesn’t quite cut it in the digital age. Continues Roz: “64% of people trust online search engines the most when conducting research on a business. And 90% of people only look at the first page of search engine results to form an impression”.
News coverage during a PR crisis can push negative stories to the top of search engine results, so when people Google your business, what they see influences their perception. Online reputation management works to counter, weaken or eliminate negative material online by generating and promoting positive content.
3.Crises are now complex and harder to manage
The potential risk of libellous and defamatory statements to go viral online has never been more prominent. Whether it’s email, blog posts, social media or chat rooms, negative publicity now plays out across a multitude of media platforms, from print and digital news outlets to socials. It’s hard to manage that level of complexity reactively without specific expertise.
Social media can be particularly incendiary, blowing up a small issue into a big one in real-time without the right skills. And a bad response or no response at all can make it worse and cause long term damage.
4.Margins are already tight – why make them even tighter?
A good reputation is a direct contributor to your bottom line, translating into increased customer loyalty, retention and advocacy. By contrast, a poor reputation can result in decreased sales, revenue and profitability. It can also put off investors, shareholders, suppliers, and potential employees.
A report by Grayling found that negative content on page one of Google search results was losing FTSE 100 Companies up to 15 million leads every month. Its findings also estimated that each company was losing an average of 16% of website visitors due to negative online content.
“Search-focused reputation management reduces the volume and impact of negative content in Google search results and across the internet”, says Roz. “It also enables companies and brands to take control of the online narrative about their business and their reputation. That’s why it’s essential that reputation management is front and centre of your core strategy”.
5.As a business owner or exec, reputation management can get personal
In today’s multi-faceted media landscape it can be incredibly difficult to separate the business from the person, which means senior colleagues can be in the firing line when a reputation crisis hits. This can be devastating and unfair, leading to fewer job prospects and a strain on personal relationships. There’s a moral as well as commercial imperative to ensure you’re doing everything you can to minimise the risks, prepare for the worst, and handle any issues skilfully (a knee jerk reaction or defensive response is the last thing businesses should do). For example, do you have statements for likely scenarios prepared? How will you ensure they’re communicated in a timely, effective way? Concludes Roz: “We understand that feeling of panic when bad press or social media posts surface online because we help people in this situation every day – it is crucial to plan and be prepared in order to protect both the business and your staff on an individual level”.
This post was originally published on here
