How do you turn negative PR into positive on the internet?

What do you do if you find your company, products or services under fire on the internet?


A very unhappy listed UK company recently asked us for strategic PR advice after finding negative comments from investors on the organisation’s financial performance. It wanted to know what it could do to stop the remarks on a discussion forum.


Our top three PR tips on managing your online reputation
If these negative comments are highly visible on internet searches, posting a defensive reply on a popular blog, discussion board or social media channel will just ‘fuel the fire’ and make things worse.


In situations like these you need to get the basics right. Here are our top three tips:

1. Push down negative comments with a strategic PR programme of good news product or company stories which generate positive brand messages on the front pages of Google and other engine searches.


2. Resist the temptation of posting defensive replies


3. Don’t order the removal of the comments just because you don’t like them!

When a PR crisis hits, it’s too late to prepare!

A PR crisis is any situation that threatens your organisation’s image and reputation. Fail to prepare for it, then prepare to fail.

When a PR crisis hits an organisation the rules of the game in normal PR and media relations change dramatically. The speed of information and image delivery over the internet is often almost instantaneous. Speculation and public criticism through social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, can overwhelm an organisation within minutes. And if you are not prepared for this, you could find yourself in serious hot water.

Every organisation should have a simple crisis communications procedure or as I call it, a ‘PR protection plan’ ready to go when things go wrong. It’s not just good PR practice, it could be a ‘life-saver’!

Crisis PR requires efficient reporting systems

Whether you are dealing with a fatality, customer complaint, share price crash, or a product fail, you will need effective crisis reporting systems which alert your chief exec and senior management team to the situation in seconds. Staff and suppliers must also have a protocol for referring any media enquiries straight to your communications team.

Be factual, quick and truthful

When things do go wrong, tell your story factually, quickly and truthfully. If you ignore the situation, deny or hide it, it will get worse. People usually remember what they hear first and last so view the situation from their perspective not just yours. On a final note, don’t make the common mistake of handing the crisis PR and media relations over to your lawyers. If they are not communications professionals, it could escalate the problem.

Five simple SEO tips for writing effective online press releases

SEO optimisation is really important if you want your online press release content crawled, indexed and ranked by internet search engines. That’s why you need to make sure that your digital press releases promote both your news and maximise your internet search visibility and rankings.

You can improve the search visibility of your digital press release content by following E=MC2 Public Relations’ five simple SEO tips for writing effective online press releases:

1. Research, optimise and hyperlink your top keyword phrases (no more than two


2. Link to a landing page, so you can track interest


3. Post in the news area of your website (newsdesk)


4. Distribute via RSS news feeds


5. Maximise PR distribution to relevant online press (this gets your press release on other sites with backlinks to you)

This should help you create SEO-friendly press releases that will send more potential buyers and journalists to your website!

Ruined in a ‘tweet’ – ignore social media at your peril!

At a time when a good name can be destroyed in a ‘tweet’, it’s surprising how few organisations actively monitor what people are saying about them over the Internet. These days, we’re more likely to be influenced by what other customers are saying about a product on the internet than believe its slick advertising and marketing hype.

Every business should be actively engaged in not just protecting but also strengthening its online reputation. Listening to what’s being said about your company on blogs, discussion forums and other social media channels also gives you an opportunity to respond and contribute to these conversations in a positive and personal way. It’s these two-way conversations which can play a vital role in building customer relationships and keeping people on side when things go wrong.

Social media marketing is becoming hugely powerful and monitoring it is vital to keeping your business reputation intact.

If you are not already tuned-in, there are some great free tools you can use to start monitoring what people are saying about you.

Here are three good ones to get you started:

1. Google Alerts
   Google alerts, these are free, all you need is a Google account. Google trawls the Internet for conversations about you and sends the links. Also a great tool for keeping tabs on your competitors!
   
   


2. Tweetdeck
   Tweetdeck organises all of your Twitter communications and tracks what people are saying about your organisation or products.
   
   


3. Social Mention
   Social Mention is like Google Alerts but for social media.

Think before you tweet

The problem with Twitter or anything you publish on the web is that it’s permanent. From chief executives and politicians to celebrities and journalists, the Internet is full of damaging examples of disastrous and embarrassing tweets.

So think before you tweet – there’s no such thing as ‘off the record’ on the internet!

Here’s a few tips on what not to talk about...

• Don’t complain about your organisation, products, customers or staff
• Don’t get defensive or angry
• Don’t tell tales
• Don’t publicise sensitive company or financial information
• Don’t publicise private or confidential issues
• Don’t criticise your competitors
• Don’t be inaccurate
• Don’t be defamatory
• Don’t forget to spell-check your words!

Yours,

Arthur

The Blog Dog

Footballers: don’t make a twit of yourself

(Photo courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti)

Has anyone else noticed all the media stories about sportspeople using Twitter? Golfer Rory McIlroy posted a photo of himself with Charl Schwartzel, the day after the South African snatched the US Masters from him. He tweeted: “Flying to Malaysia with Charl! Glad one of us has a green jacket on!!!”

It’s a shame others - often footballers - don’t tweet so graciously. England striker Carlton Cole has been charged with improper conduct by the FA after making ill-advised Twitter comments about Ghana fans. Ipswich Town youngster Billy Clarke used Twitter to reveal that the Tractor Boys were not going to offer him a new contract. The latest offender is St Johnstone player Michael Duberry, who tweeted an expletive-laced tirade against a referee following a recent defeat.

So, what’s to be done? The way I see it, these are the options:

• Impose a complete ban on players using social networking sites – draconian perhaps, but it was about the only thing that worked well during the England team’s 2010 World Cup campaign.

• Threaten players with disciplinary action if they post anything inflammatory – the prospect of being dropped, made to train with the youth team or suspended without pay for a few weeks could be a stronger deterrent than a fine.

• Ban players from posting anything relating to football on their social networking sites – it works for other industries, why not football?

• Get players to clear any football-related comments with their club’s press office – I’m surprised clubs haven’t done this already, updates to Facebook and Twitter are just as public as pre- and post-match interviews.

• Train players how to use social media sensibly – top players get media training at a young age, so it makes sense to teach them about social networking sites too. Attendance should be compulsory if a player has a social networking account.

Why use social media for business?

1. It’s an excellent way of connecting to your customers where they are and what they are saying about you.



2. It’s a great way of reinforcing existing client relationships and building new ones. Businesses can share knowledge and information easily on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, consumer forums or via Twitter.



3. It’s the quickest method of communicating key business messages to a wide range of people. Corporate Twitter accounts are a great way of broadcasting company news instantly and concisely.



4. Crisis PR: it can be vital to managing corporate reputation, messages and keeping people informed when things go wrong.



5. Twitter is excellent for driving visitors to your website and corporate blog.

Blog dog
Arthur