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3 Steps Involved in Online Reputation Management - Continued

The first 2 steps in Online Reputation Management, Monitoring and Analyzing, were covered in the previous article. The third step, Influencing, will be covered in this email.

Step 3: Influencing

Let’s assume you represent a well-known company whose leader has just been photographed engaged in an illegal action. Do you merely release a statement, or quickly take to the Internet to defend your company’s interests?

Although this situation is somewhat overriding to the idea of public relations, the advent of social media is quickly changing the way this sort of crisis is handled. Since business organizations can connect with its audiences quickly, it is possible for them to deal with such situations rapidly and digitally.

Response to a Negative Comment with a Positive One

One of the most applied theories to counter attack a negative comment is to attend it with a positive one. As mentioned earlier, you can influence the results by participating in the conversation and eliminating negative online conversations by being actively involved in them. Your participation in such conversations will give you the opportunity to improve the perception of your brand.

We all know that Customer Is King. It is only the opinions of your customers that count, so let them be the judge. You should establish a good relationship with the blogger or the customer that complained about your service on any social media platform. A simple comment like the below can do wonders. Of course, comments need to be followed by actions.


You should take an active part in your industry conversation by becoming a regular contributor to blogs and forums. Lead the conversation about your brand. Respond to comments or feedback; engage in conversations already happening or start your own. As you do so, be honest and transparent in your approach. People like the fact that you are paying attention and are actively participating in the conversation, not just being talked about. You should always be prepared to act. If negative feedback occurs, you ought to respond immediately. Even if you don't participate on a regular basis, you should always be prepared to manage digital disasters.

Select the Right Social Technologies

Giving positive feedback to negative ones is not always sufficient to influence the public. You will have to try a little harder to mark your presence among your audience. The Internet is immense and to be able to reach your customers, you will have to segment your audience.

Due to the numerous quantities of social media technologies on the Internet, many businesses favor the most popular ones like Facebook, Twitter and so on. Nevertheless, many of them complain that they cannot reach their audiences. Just because Facebook and Twitter are the most popular social sites does not necessary mean that your audience is on these specific platforms.



According to statistics, mostly people of age group 18-34 are engaging in Facebook. Assume that your company’s target audience is middle aged. Will you still focus more on Facebook or will you move to another social media with an audience that matches yours?

Selecting the right social media platform is important to build and promote your online reputation. To be able to access the right social networks, you must focus more on your target audience. You may also classify your audience in terms of demographics or geographic to have a better idea of the type of social network they are using.

To provide better customer service to your audience, it is important to engage in the right social network appropriate for your industry. You may also consider building your own social network if you want to hit the most appropriate community.

Let Your Company's Tone Show You Care

Once you have elected the appropriate social network suitable for your business organization, you can easily receive and give feedback to your audience. But you should remember that a two-way conversation must not be an official one. You must have a particular way to confer to your audience and it should go well with your company’s tone of voice.

You may also consider establishing a team blog where there is less focus placed on a single individual and more attention on your employees. Your employees are the people who will represent the brand and image of your company. Bloggers and the online public prefer to hear from those working in your company as their opinions are considered authentic and similar to “public opinion”.