Managing your online reputation is both an art and a science. Service professionals and business owners depend on the goodwill and satisfaction of their customers. So when an unpleasant comment or complaint surfaces online, they need to be careful to address it properly to minimize damage, or, better yet, turn it into a positive.
Lawyers tell their clients to never let their adversaries see them upset. This is good advice for online behavior, too. Regardless of your initial reaction to a bad review on Yelp, an unfair complaint on Google+Local for Business, or an outright lie on a site like Ripoff Report, you must not react right away. Take a deep breath first. Maybe several.
Managing Your Online Reputation Is Part Of Social Media Management
The more successful you are with social media, the more people will be talking about you. This is, after all, what you want. But success means careful monitoring of what people say and knowing how to respond to less-than-flattering comments.
KISSmetrics along with many other social media experts stress the importance of transparency. This means accepting feedback and not hiding criticism and complaints, at least not right away. It isn’t easy being transparent but as KISSmetrics notes, being opaque is riskier.
What you should do—whether you’ve been monitoring sites for feedback or get blindsided—is respond calmly and acknowledge the complaint. Let the poster know you will look into the situation. Attempt to take the issue offline by asking the poster to call or email you so you can get more details and handle the issue. This tells everyone who reads the page that:
- You aren’t trying to dodge responsibility, and
- You aren’t running scared.
Once you have investigated the matter, report back. It’s always helpful to acknowledge the poster is upset, even if you personally think s/he is completely in the wrong. Then explain what you’ve learned, without being unduly harsh or attempting to look like you’re trying to shift the blame. You don’t want to appear defensive, but if you aren’t entirely to blame, or even entirely blameless, laying out the facts is helpful for everyone who is following. It can also provide a good business lesson for you to share with your followers and employees.
Some business owners will offer a coupon or some of kind of special offer to “thank” the poster for bringing an issue to their attention. This kind of resolution can raise your respect level and even bring you new Followers, Likes, etc. Like your mom always said, it’s best to rise above your detractors.
Obviously, if you are in the wrong—even just in part—apologize, acknowledge the error, and learn from it. Make the changes necessary to prevent it from happening again.
Monitor What’s Said About You on Social Media
The best way to head off a disaster is to monitor what’s being said about you. Steeve Coichy, owner of a tech and gaming firm, recently wrote about how to monitor your online reputation using Google Dashboard for LinkedIn. Most of his article centers on a Google tool called Me on the Web.
Me on the Web was rolled out in 2011 and has been morphed into Google Alerts. I’d already set alerts for my name and my business to inform me no more than once a day, and identified specific sources from a drop-down menu. I specified the US as my region and asked for all results.
Go ahead and Google yourself. If you have a Google account, only you can see the Google Contacts listing which appear along with the search results. You can remove items on your Google profile and various services, but Google can’t remove results which show up in a search that comes from non-Google sites. Contact their webmasters; you’ll be surprised how many will at least consider your request.
Coichy, who credits QuickSprout for his resources, also suggests these tools to monitor and manage online content about you and your business:
- Übersuggest, which provides keywords you can use to boost your online presence
- GoFishDigital, which comb the web for complaints about your business from sites like Ripoff Report
- Pay attention to your Google search results for your name and business. They offer clues to how people search for you
Don’t let a few negative comments deter you from using social media. Unless there’s a lot of bad stuff out there, a few comments mean you’re doing just fine.
What If There Are Threats Or Outright Falsehoods?
As you know, free speech doesn't protect threatening language or slander/liability, at least when it originates with the US or its territories. Ripoff Report and other sites, unfortunately, operate outside the US and don’t fall under US laws.
KISSmetrics suggests combating bad content from these untouchable sites by creating a ton of good content. This will start to push the bad material further down the search results. And consider hiring a reputation control expert. It’s just not worth letting untrue content hang out there unanswered and unchallenged.
If you spot illegal or offensive use of your products, image, or business name, fight back, says KISSmetrics. Document with screen shots, and get your attorney to send a cease-and-desist order. If they continue, a lawsuit can at least temporarily bring a court order to take down the content.
If you are actually threatened, by all means contact local law enforcement.
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