After a public relations nightmare, it might feel like someone dug a large, dirty hole and tossed your company’s carefully-built reputation into its depths. It could be a horrific review that everyone can see or a scandal that hits the news. Fortunately, there are ways to bring your company out of the hole and brush the dirt from it.
Responding to a Bad Situation
You’ll need to decide who will be the face of the company. This person will be the one to respond to bad publicity events, scandals, or terrible reviews when they happen. If reporters are involved, you don’t want them to hear conflicting stories from people in the company. There should be one person responding to inquiries or dealing with the public.
The company cannot ignore a bad situation, or it could escalate. A formal statement admitting the problem and the steps you’re taking to fix it is often the best way to respond to a scandal or bad publicity that has hit the media. If it’s in the form of reviews, you should respond to the complaint directly and take steps to remedy the situation.
A Positive Campaign
Once you’ve acknowledged the problem, the best thing for your company is to drown out the negatives with positives. Nothing is ever gone after it has been published on the Internet, but you can control what shows on the first few pages of search engines. You can start by becoming involved in charity work or a community event. That will create positive buzz around your company, pushing bad publicity down in the search results.
Bad reviews don’t have to be the end of the world. You can take this opportunity to fix something wrong with your business. A scandal or lousy publicity might not seem optimistic, but you can turn the situation around with some focused attention on your SEO and public relations.
White-label marketing software will help your company project the right image online, correcting any misinformation spread through negative PR. An experienced SEO company can help you focus on increasing your positive visibility online.
Listen to Feedback
You should respond to negative buzz as much as possible because you can’t hide your company’s face in the ground, hoping it will go away on its own. Along with responding to negative feedback from unhappy customers, you should consider changes within your organization based on that feedback.
While it might seem appealing to tell a customer you’re looking at the problem internally to find solutions, be prepared to come back with those solutions. If people are upset with your customer service, find ways to create positive experiences. Implement strategies that allow customers to talk directly to your company. Send them follow-up emails after they’ve used your service. Learn from both the positive and negative experiences customers have with your business.
Social Media and Positive Reviews
Creating profiles on many of the social media platforms where your audience congregates is a good way of providing a positive experience that will reflect on the company. You can use these profiles to build a bigger audience to drown out the recent negatives about your company.
When happy customers are thrilled with your product or service, please encourage them to leave positive reviews in online review spaces like Yelp. If you see people talking positively about your company on social media, contact them directly and ask them to head to the review area and leave their positive opinions there.
A PR nightmare doesn’t have to be the end for your company. You can come back from a bad review or scandal if you respond correctly to the situation and work towards improving your reputation.
