Reputation Management: How to Make Bad News About Your Business Go Away

Everyone knows that reputation can make or break any business. In the pre-Internet days, getting bad press for your brand meant that you had a short-term crisis to address. In today's online marketplace, bad news about your brand can have impacts on company strength long after the initial shock of the crisis has passed. If you want to build long-term brand success, it's essential that you know how to make bad news go away. It's possible when you adopt proactive reputation management practices.

Outperform Bad News


One of the oldest tactics for making bad news about a company go away is to simply meet it with an excess of positive activity. This tactic is particularly effective in the digital world, where you can create new buzz for your brand around the clock. When your business is confronted with bad publicity, outperform it to create positive publicity. Curate content that promotes your company's strength, and draw attention to what you're doing right.

Take a Multi-Pronged Approach to Your Online Presence


Having a website and Facebook profile for your brand is good. Running a blog, satellite sites and using multiple social networking sites is even better. That's because the more positive channels you have to promote your brand, the easier it is to push negative search results down or make them disappear altogether. Think of your brand not as a singular entity but as a connected network of strong, consistent voices. When you really put your company out there in the digital sphere, consumers have many opportunities to encounter positive news. If you're only using one or two sites, your ability to influence the conversation about your own brand is severely limited.

Know How to Balance Being Humble with Being Stubborn


When your brand strikes the perfect balance between humility and stubbornness, you're able to both accept blame for shortcomings and leave consumers with the impression that your company is consistent and trustworthy. If your business made a misstep, acknowledge it and let consumers know how you're addressing the shortcoming.

Listen to Detractors and Address Them Professionally


Imagine that your brand keeps getting bad reviews on Google+ or another social networking site. It can be tempting to respond to negativity with negativity, but you should never give in. Instead, listen to what your detractors are saying. Then, determine if they're gaining traction with others who are following your profile online. If a negative review is earning a great deal of likes and positive comments, you need to respond as soon as possible. When responding, remember that it's essential to stay professional. Don't use all caps, don't use profanity and don't put down your customers. Apologize, address the issue and suggest a solution instead.

Heed the Importance of SEO


Remember that the cost of reputation today entails more than just free social networking profiles and basic marketing campaigns. It also entails more sophisticated strategies based on strong search engine optimization (SEO). When it comes to making bad news disappear, keywords and other elements of strong SEO matter more than anything else. If you're not a self-made SEO guru, work with experts who will address both positive and negative keyword results for your company. Investing in high-level SEO now might seem expensive, but the long-term payoffs can be huge.

When it comes to making bad news about your company disappear, there's only one hard-and-fast rule about what you shouldn't do. Don't ignore bad news. Ignoring negative press and online entries won't make them disappear. On the contrary, it will only make things worse. Remember to be proactive and professional about bad news, and don't be afraid to call in experts for help.