Topic: Make Sure Your Reputation Management Agency Doesn’t Ruin Your Reputation

Reputation has always mattered. We might not have had to worry about “cancel culture” or bad online reviews in our past, but there’s never been a time when people didn’t gossip with their friends and neighbors about other people. Consumers today talk about businesses the same way, backed by a social-media megaphone that can make or break a brand in an instant.

Like it or not, having a reputation is part of being a brand today — and the sooner you learn how to manage yours, the better. But beware: many of the PR and marketing agencies that claim to specialize in online reputation management (ORM) don’t have the best reputations themselves.

With this in mind, here’s an overview of what reputation management is, where it comes from, how it’s moved online, and the best practices for protecting your brand today.

What Is Reputation Management?

Think of reputation management as PR playing defense, such as when:

• Your customers are posting one-star Google reviews;
• Your employees are trashing you on Glassdoor;
• A lawsuit against your company appears high in your branded search results;
• A negative news story accuses you of incompetent management or various misdeeds; or
• You or one of your employees gets “canceled” on Twitter for a bad decision or poor choice of words.

In a world where anyone can find out a wealth of information about your brand with a single Google search, managing your reputation is more critical than ever. That controversial Facebook post they dug up from when your newly hired CEO was in college? That dodgy character that invested in your company? That media misquote that took on a life of its own? Careers and businesses have been ruined over less.

When reputation issues flare from a low smoulder to a five-alarm fire, that’s a form of reputation management known as crisis communications. I’ve worked crises ranging from workplace shootings to sex scandals and more, and the stakes are never higher when it comes to a brand preserving trust.

The biggest crisis I’ve faced in my career was a tech outage that impacted millions of Americans, when I spent two full days talking to reporters on TV, in print and online. It was exhausting but rewarding for my company. When you handle a crisis well, the reputational halo for your brand can be powerful.

Topic Discussed: Make Sure Your Reputation Management Agency Doesn’t Ruin Your Reputation

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