Here is an overview of several popular reputation management tactics that companies in a variety of industries utilize to recover from a crisis. If you are having a similar problem with your brand, these approaches can be successful in helping you recover.
How can brands justify spending on the content or social right now when the rest of the business might be struggling?
Emily suggested that it is essential for customers, partners, and employees to receive communication from you. In my view, ‘Content’ is the optimal approach to achieving the goal, and can be accomplished in a timely manner with minimal resources.
One of the few methods of communication between companies and their target audience during this period is digital content; print advertising, billboards, any in-store events, and face-to-face networking have all come to a standstill.
It’s been eye-opening to observe how ads have changed since the pandemic began, from the beginning when everything felt so odd and incongruous, to now, when background music from a piano and deserted streets appear to be everywhere. I have noticed that more and more companies are using their online content channels as a call to action, for example, British Gas, which is dedicated to helping, BirdsEye.co.uk/helpfulideas, and our customer Sage promotes their material which is useful for small businesses.
Brands should absolutely ponder the idea of content marketing at the moment, as it delivers direct value and keeps the company in the public eye. I’d focus on expertise, authority, and trust.
Content is less expensive than many other forms of marketing and it has the potential to have a sustained impact – the material you make now may be active for a lengthy period.
Although certain brands and presses may be facing hardship at this juncture, it does not signify that individuals don’t require superior quality learning or education. Everywhere you look there are chances to succeed, and what’s more, people are more accepting than ever, which gives companies a fantastic possibility to experiment, assess, gain knowledge, and alter their approach. Regarding video material, people do not anticipate that it be of a full cinematic standard presently. Make certain that what you are communicating is pertinent to your area of proficiency.
[Content] How much should I be changing my editorial strategy around coronavirus? I don’t want to end up with lots of content that ages quickly, but it feels inappropriate not to be acknowledging what’s going on.
Emily: You need an interim strategy, for sure. The objectives of your business have likely been modified in the recent few months. This could range from expanding the business to just staying afloat, from merchandising to keeping the customer base familiar with the brand, but your team needs confidence and guidance about what to do next.
We need to alter our working methods to provide more versatility – what would happen if there were occasional restrictions, for instance?
A temporary plan doesn’t have to take a lot of time to put together – everyone needs to work together to make it happen quickly. I’d recommend the following steps:
- Values – how do they apply now?
- New business goals/objectives – what’s most important right now?
- How can content help achieve these goals?
- How has your audience changed? (Do you have a new audience now? For example, there’s been a huge boom over the 70s on Zoom)
- Draw a Venn diagram of your audience needs (focus on the needs that will likely remain) vs your expertise vs your available resource
- Detail your revised production and distribution process (budgets, tools, and teams may have changed)
- Set very specific objectives for your content – what is it you need your audience to do as a result of interacting with your content?
[Content & Social] Are there any key rules or bits of software to help make social media & content marketing a bit more structured for a leaner team?
Ellie noted that Facebook Blueprint is an amazing free educational resource for anyone interested in advertising.
Jon suggests that if you need to be resourceful, one of the things you could do is pick an activity that you have fun with, like making a podcast for example, and that should be your main focus. Think about who you are writing for, what they are looking for, and what they would find valuable, and focus on that. The necessary ingredients for success are a selection of relevant topics and a strong focal point. Choose a single platform and excel in it.
Emily suggested that when beginning a content plan, it is important to consider one’s core values first. Bring your communication back to those values. Examine your current goals and think of how content could support their realization. Think about how your audience’s context has changed. What are they feeling? What are their motivations and needs right now? And how can you help with that? Connect what they require to the items you can give and the resources you have on hand.
Begin writing down suggestions for how to reduce the amount of time it will take. Examine what you currently possess and determine how to employ it. Have an all-hands-on-deck attitude, with teams and engaged customers. When you are devising a new post, what is the desired audience action/what is the best response someone could have to it, then track the effectiveness of it? Simply, just start doing and measuring!
1. Earn Positive Reviews and Mentions
Unless a business has a lot of deep-rooted issues, most of its consumers should be satisfied – otherwise, it is unlikely that the company would have survived this long. When unfavorable reviews appear, those delighted customers will end up being your most supportive champions. The most effective way to gain recognition for your business on the internet is to boost its visibility. By doing this, you will get more compliments and can incite reviews without explicitly motivating them.
The catch? Without a request to do something, it doesn’t seem likely that people will be driven to write a review. Create one and mobilize your customer base. It’s incredible how many people will turn out for you.
Creating a webpage or microsite specifically for displaying positive reviews could help to push negative reviews further down on Google page one. Then you can come up with a plan to address the feedback given on external review websites. Think about Trustpilot as a crucially important area of your work since it is having an impressive impact in the retail sector. You can’t offer rewards to customers for leaving reviews, however, you can make it as effortless as possible for them to submit reviews. Develop a system that takes advantage of current clients and simplifies the task of writing a review after a purchase with only one click. By doing this, your business can increase the amount of positive feedback that makes reference to your firm, and counteract any negative reviews. The end result is to provide potential clients with a more comprehensive overview of your items and services.
2. Develop High-Quality Content
A study conducted by Advanced Web Ranking revealed that the vast majority of Google’s audience never goes past the first page of results. If unfavorable results related to your brand appear on the first page in Google searches, the easiest and most direct path forward is to get those results moved up to a higher page. Having an effectively optimized review page means that your brand can surpass the negative reviews when people search for reviews of your brand – however, those results will only occupy a limited amount of space in search engine result pages. Should the worst occur, you would have nine other outcomes to manage.
The solution is content, content, content. Google is determined to provide its users with the newest and most reputable content, and unfavorable reviews are unlikely to match the freshness and value of the content. Provide the search engine with improved material and it will be more than happy to display it.
Prioritize by first focusing on enhancing and developing the content on your site.
Put out upbeat company news stories and include substantial material associated with involvement in the community.
If you don’t have a blog, start one. Create detailed and enlightening posts that show your organization’s knowledge of its industry while making them interesting to the people you are writing to.
If you already have a blog, use it strategically. Develop a timetable for posting and create well-crafted, SEO-enhanced posts that will have a positive impact on search engine rankings.
In order to keep your website hovering near the top of the results, you should take every possible measure, but it’ll never completely dominate the first page, occupying every one of the 10 slots. Google will display a maximum of two results from the same website in their most prominent search results in order to offer a selection of choices. If your website has an abundance of negative content that is well-ranked, you will need to develop a plan for your content that expands beyond your website.
- Design a PR and outreach strategy and publicize new initiatives or offer products for review.
- Submit byline articles to different publications, establishing thought leadership and authority across relevant industry websites (and capturing additional real estate in the SERPs with such content).
- Get interviewed as an expert in the field.
- Launch a new microsite or optimize existing microsites.
- Invest in a branded link management tool to track SEO redirects and manage link campaigns.
By employing appropriate SEO and outreach schemes, all the material you create can counterbalance any adverse results in the search engine result pages.
3. Contribute to a Cause (that Aligns with Your Brand)
Brands such as TOMS, GE, and Coca-Cola are associated with environmental and social causes because that is precisely what customers desire from the businesses they love. Research has determined that incorporating a company into corporate social responsibility may lead to a 20% surge in sales. A study uncovered that businesses participating in social responsibility efforts are prone to have employee resignation rates up to 50% lower.
Be aware that not just customers pay attention to a brand that is encouraging a cause- news outlets and magazines do too. Looking up “Patagonia” in Google News brings up stories such as “An Assessment of Waste Output Carried Out by Patagonia at Outdoor Retailer”, “Patagonia’s Stance on the Environment: ‘Everyone Should Engage in the Battle Against Climate Change'” and “Consumerism Lacking in Appeal. Patagonia is Experiencing Huge Success and Transforming Capitalism on its Journey”.
The more your company puts effort into a cause and highlights that effort, the more people want to mention and discuss your brand, resulting in less space for the bad press in SERPs. In order to utilize this tactic effectively instead of in an insincere manner, it is vital to choose an issue that is a proper match for your business. Be sure that the initiative displays the main ideas of your company and stirs excitement among those involved in it.
4. Building Social Media Presence
In addition to making new material and boosting applicable neglected digital assets, improving your organization’s social profiles (which are often included in search engine results) can assist in pushing unfavorable content off the first page. It is surprising that so many merchants have difficulty getting their social profiles to show up on the first page of searches. This is a digital space that can conveniently be occupied by material from outside sources. To rank your Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube profiles on the first page of branded searches, make sure your pages are optimized. Taking into account that a search of your brand on the first page of results may include the website of your company and different social media profiles, this is a great opportunity to make the most of it.
Your business can further boost its online presence by fixing errors on Wikipedia pages and other websites that are affiliated with your brand. This has the potential to enhance the information displayed in the Google Knowledge Panel, producing a more precise first perception of the brand.
5. Diversify Your Search Landscape
As well as producing outstanding material, concentrate on making various types of content. Using various forms of content, such as photos, videos, infographics, news items, podcasts, frequently asked questions, social media postings, and listings on specialized search websites, can help you to gain more page space on SERPs. Search results can include videos, pictures, and current happenings, like in special search engines such as Google Videos, Google Pictures, and Google News. If you distribute your podcast on any of the popular podcasting services, you will gain a number of extra, high quality, and relevant websites in addition to the possibility that podcast episodes may be incorporated into normal search results.
Even if you’ve already managed to move unfavorable materials off the top search results, do as much as you can to fill up the remaining spots. This action stops any other potentially unfavorable material from appearing and gives you authority over your brand’s narrative.
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