Online Reputation Management

The ubiquity of the internet means that disgruntled clients can, and often do, post their grievances on forums. Unfortunately, dissatisfied clients are far more likely to post negative comments than happy clients are to post positive ones.

Individuals now have a loud, far-reaching voice in a way that simply wasn’t possible before. This is healthy and one of the great things about the internet in that individuals from around the world can communicate / collaborate almost free of charge on matters of mutual interest. However, the perceived total lack of control over their online reputation in a world where anyone can essentially post anything that they wish is unnerving for companies who otherwise work diligently to cultivate and protect their brand.

DPFOC’s online reputation management service has several aspects:

Dissemination of Good News:

Companies regularly fail to get their good news stories conveyed to the online community who often shun conventional media. Small things such as opening a new office, recruiting a new member of staff, winning a new client or contract are positive events that should be conveyed via company blog, e-mail, forum postings, tweets, social networking websites etc to ensure that as many people as possible hear about your good news. The more good news people hear about a business, the more they trust and respect the brand.

Maintenance and Feedback:

Consumers of your product or service often will not take the time to fill in the “send us feedback” section of your website but will happily engage in relevant forum postings in a more informal setting. Our role is to understand your product’s benefits and promote these online as well as to document any common themes emerging in relation to your products or company in these informal settings which otherwise can go under the radar and feed these back to you for analysis / action.

Our maintenance service would also seek to correct information on the net which may have been true at one point but is now outdated but still harming your brand. For example, a company we work with had, at one point, very lengthy delays in answering their phones due to a shortage of call centre staff. This problem has now been totally remedied with world leading time to operator times achieved but until recently articles relating to the legacy problem dominated search engine results for this company. We have worked tirelessly to get the word out there that this issue has now been remedied and so avoid any ongoing negative publicity.

Rapid Response Damage Limitation:

In the aftermath of an event which causes negative publicity for a business, how the company reacts bears a huge influence on whether the negative press spreads aggressively and destructively or is calmly defused. In the heat of such events, posters can exaggerate or plainly lie due to their frustration. On occasion, parties with ulterior motives (competitors) can hijack proceedings and take the opportunity to post anonymously to pour fuel on the fire. In such instances, our role is simply to get our client company’s side of the story out there and to offer apologies to the injured parties where appropriate. Often, an apology and explanation on behalf of a company allied to a concerted online effort to defuse a situation can calm it down before any real brand damage is done. Failing to react or ignore the situation can result in long-term brand damage.