Building an online reputation is a considerable effort, you have to go feeding it every day, tacita tacita, making it grow little by little, with the sweat of your brow. However, at the slightest carelessness, we can be involved in an adverse situation that can ruin all our work. It is advisable to be cautious and remain alert, as well as to know how to act in the face of this type of setbacks. Let’s see some reasons that can ruin all your work:
Lack of tact when dealing with a dissatisfied customer . Clients are, today, those who hold the power in the social media landscape. They are able to raise us to the top, thanks to their recommendations and references to their contacts, or sink into a bottomless pit, if they feel cheated by our behavior. A dissatisfied customer transmits his discomfort to at least 10 people, the word of mouth effect spreads quickly and with it your bad online reputation.
An inappropriate intervention by a representative of your brand . It is very important that department managers and senior managers of the company become aware of the great impact that their actions have. They are the voice of the company, and they must act as such. As a Community you have to let them know and transmit the corporate branding strategy of the company; all his interventions have to be in harmony with her. They must also know that they represent the company, both inside and outside of it, even in their personal field. It would not be logical, for example, for a responsible Greenpeace to wear a leather jacket.
Ignore the interventions of our users in social networks . Social media is a bidirectional communication channel, which users approach to interact with the company. It shows that there is indeed someone behind the social profiles, reveals the most human side of the company. You have to know how to diligently manage your presence in social networks, monitoring their activity and acting every time clients demand your attention.
Give the silent for an answer . The users wait for an answer, that this one is effective and arrives to them in a short space of time; in no case will they understand that your answer is absent. Indifference can be very harmful, it causes a feeling of abandonment that is not favorable for the brand.
Try to impose your opinion above all . The Community must have a vocation for service, people skills and the ability to empathize with the public. In no way will be understood a despotic and authoritarian attitude imposed on users. If this were the case, they would reject the brand and everything related to it, as well as not showing the slightest objection when publicly transmitting their dissatisfaction.
Smash against a troll . Never have to engage in a fight against those individuals who unjustifiably and with very little education try to tarnish the good name of the brand. Remember, Don’t feed the troll. In a situation like this, the best position is to let him die of indifference; if it is obvious and your ego is not swollen, little by little it will lose steam until it disappears. If, on the other hand, you decide to follow the game, you have already fallen into their networks, and you can make the company spiral into a spiral without returning, bringing with it the destruction of its image.
Disregard the opinion of users about our brand . If you live locked in your world, looking at your navel, you can not know the degree of customer satisfaction for your brand, you will live in an unreal world, oblivious to the needs and demands of your users. Part of your functions includes knowing your users thoroughly, worrying about your interests and launching actions aimed at knowing their tastes, preferences and expectations placed on the brand. Worry about analyzing and keeping track and evolution of your influence in socialmedia and the degree of interactivity with your users.
Act only as an information issuer . In social media there is no established sender and receiver, but the roles are continually exchanged. The communicative function of the Community is to integrate all the members of the community and know how to create positive links towards the brand. Being a Community is not only about keeping social networks up-to-date, but about creating a living and stable community around the brand.
Disbanding between the different departments of the company . In the face of a reputation crisis, the company must remain united, adopt the same communication strategy and transmit the same message. It is important to train employees about how they should act in these circumstances, in addition to keeping them punctually informed in these cases. It would be a fatal mistake to sow confusion and misinformation. Providing incomplete or insufficient information, with diffuse data only leads to generate a climate of distrust towards the brand.
Denying the biggest, lying. The first step before a problem is to recognize it, and admit responsibility . It is not at all advisable to try to drain the package, or cover it with falsehoods that only lead you to further aggravate the problem. From here, information transparency will be of vital importance, showing that the company is responsible for its actions and when it is needed, it is still worthy of the trust of the users. Of course, you always have to ask for forgiveness and assume the consequences.
As you can see, you have to coordinate all the agents that may have some relationship with the brand, both internally and externally; generate engagement with users towards the company and stay alert, to know how to anticipate the circumstances. What is your way of acting on social networks? Have you suffered any major setbacks?