Do’s and Don’ts When Managing Your Online Reputation

managing your online reputation

 

By Julie Wright —President
Twitter: @juliewright

I recently had the opportunity to hear from Jon Goldberg of Reputation Architects on managing your online reputation. The occasion was the PRSA Western District Conference in Phoenix, April 11 and 12 where I spoke on a storytelling panel.

Goldberg is a seasoned public relations and reputation strategist advising Fortune 500 clients as Chief Reputation Architect with his firm, specialists in managing your online reputation and offline as well.

I learned about many different landmines lurking on the web. The risks run from websites that post damaging content and then charge fees to remove it to consultants who cut corners to suppress damaging search engine results.

Goldberg shared story after story of reputation management gone awry as well as best practices to follow for managing your online reputation.

If you find yourself the subject of an Internet nastygram, Goldberg advised that you have three options:

1. Ignore It

When emotions are running high, it’s hard for people to keep their cool and put things in perspective. However, ignoring damaging content online is often the best strategy. More on this below.

2. Hide It

Through the publication of a large volume of search-optimized content, you can seek to overwhelm the negative result in search engine rankings. Search algorithms are wise to these strategies so attempting to game the system can raise Google’s suspicion.

“The idea is to publish a steady stream of high-quality content, which over time will push negative search results off the first page. Attempting to game the system by pumping out low-quality content and questionable links, a technique used by many black-hat SEO companies, will just lead to a bigger and potentially more embarrassing mess in organic search,” said Goldberg.

3. Make it Disappear

If you want to make a negative search result vanish forever, you also have only three options: ask nicely, threaten the publisher or sue.

Threatening or suing both risk angering the outlet. For instance, if you’re a Fortune 1000 company targeting a small publisher or individual, the David-and-Goliath narrative will give your brand a black eye. Suing is risky because libel, slander, defamation and other such allegations are difficult to prove to the courts.

Avoid the Streisand Effect

Goldberg shared a few examples of online reputation management gone horribly wrong. One very interesting example is what has become known as the Streisand Effect. It refers to a situation where Barbra Streisand’s Malibu home was photographed in a public database of coastal lands. She sued the photographer to have her home removed from the database. From Wikipedia:

Before Streisand filed her lawsuit, “Image 3850” had been downloaded from Adelman’s website only six times; two of those downloads were by Streisand’s attorneys. As a result of the case, public knowledge of the picture increased greatly; more than 420,000 people visited the site over the following month.

Sometimes confrontation attracts even more unwanted attention and ignoring the content is the best course.

So, how do you legitimately suppress an unfortunate online mention?

“Good content is the answer to bad content,” said Goldberg.

Publishing good content that attracts significant views and inbound links from other reputable sites with high domain authority is the answer.

Look to PR for Managing Your Online Reputation

Goldberg’s message perfectly echoed the sentiment presented by another of the conference’s speakers, Gini Dietrich. Dietrich is founder and CEO of marketing communications firm Arment Dietrich in Chicago. She is also lead blogger at the PR and marketing blog Spin Sucks. She urged public relations practitioners to lean into PR’s power for producing credible, high-ranking online content.

Working with media outlets to get that content published with an optimized inbound hyperlink are the key to raising search engine visibility for good content.

Both Dietrich and Goldberg warned that there are many underqualified and ill-equipped service providers who are encroaching on what should be PR’s domain (reputation management and story pitching and placement). These unscrupulous SEO consultants would have companies believe that reputations and rankings can be bought cheap.

However, the outcomes produced by these firms look cheap and cheapen your reputation. They’ll generate gibberish articles, plagiarized or generic content, and black hat SEO techniques that can get you blacklisted from review sites.

It reminds me of my advice to young PR practitioners: there are no PR shortcuts. The same is true for managing your online reputation, not to mention your offline reputation.

Reputation management is like a game of chutes and ladders. It takes a lot of work and many years to build up your reputation but only minutes and one mistake to tear it down.

Don’t be fooled into thinking your reputation online is any different.

8 Hilarious Reasons for a Love-Hate Relationship With HARO

Chihuahua hating HARO

By Julie Wright —President
Twitter: @juliewright

Journalists love to poke fun at PR pros for pitching nutty story ideas or tone-deaf newsjacking attempts. However, turnabout is fair play. On the PR side, we definitely get our fair share of wacky requests from the media. And the Help A Reporter Out (HARO) email service is where the weirdest of those cluster and multiply. If you’ve not recently found yourself hating HARO, we’re here to fix that.

How often have you scanned an email from HARO and nearly spit out your coffee? We love HARO for matchmaking our client partners with journalists on deadline, but we also hate HARO for the volume of bizarre requests.

If you’re reading this and don’t know what HARO is, it’s a thrice-daily email service with 800,000 subscribers that connects journalists on deadline – 55,000 of them – with expert sources to provide information and insights for their stories.

HARO queries range from the hyper-specific and obscure (Ex. “Everything To Know About Garcinia Cambogia”) to the overly vague catch-all (Ex. “Blockchain and business”).

So, courtesy of HARO, here’s a little PR industry payback for our media friends. And, to our PR friends, here is a little levity to brighten your crazed day:

1. “Seeking experts re: car sex”

via GIPHY

Wow, no one told me that this was a career option in high school!

The actual query is for a sex therapist or educator who can answer the big questions about car sex like, “What should someone know before attempting car sex? Why try it? How can someone have car sex safely (from the perspectives of car safety, considerations around public sex and consent and legality, and considerations around safer sex)?”

Turns out we all may have under-thought this subject! Although it did ask the question that is on everyone’s minds: “And what positions work best?”

2. “Pets & Their Fave TV Shows/Vets & Animal Shows”

via GIPHY

“We’re looking to talk to pet owners or vets about animals and their favorite TV shows. Does your dog love the news? Is your cat crazy for quiz shows?”

To all of the dogs and cats reading this right now, bark or meow once if you prefer Jeopardy or  twice for Wheel of Fortune. The query goes on to ask for vets to respond with the TV shows they recommend for sick pets. Here’s a PSA: If your vet ever recommends a TV show for your sick pet, it’s time to find a new vet!

3. “Looking to talk to men about how they asked their wives/partners for open marriages”

The blog Fatherly is asking for a friend.

 4. “Experts Reveal Why The Pull-Out Method Is So Dangerous”

via GIPHY

First of all, “reveal” – really? If this outlet’s readers don’t know the answer, do they, in fact, read?

5. “Huamana Analysts Needed”

Bro, I don’t think that’s how you spell Humana. Glad you’re seeking expert help though.

I’m guessing that this query generated a few responses from the Hawaiian islands. And Humana’s PR department missed out on this one if they were filtering queries by keyword and didn’t include misspellings of their company name.

6. “A brief explanation of the difference between brick and wood when buying or building a home”

via GIPHY

If your client is a big bad wolf or a little pig, here’s your 15 minutes! Wolves and pigs have two very different takes on brick versus wood.  So, I hope that the writer got both sides. A little concerning that straw was left out as I’m sure that today’s pigs and wolves know straw bale construction is the future.

7. “The Science of Sexy Step Moms”

via GIPHY

Is there any? (I’m referring to science, not sexy stepmoms.)

8. “The Brilliant Reason You Should Wrap Your Car Key In Tin Foil”

It’s almost like the reporter has already written the headline before researching their story. Apparently, aluminum foil can prevent thieves from copying your key-fob signal to gain entry to your car. So, that is clearly the “brilliant” reason to undergo this hassle against a very low-risk situation. But, there could be more nuance?

Tin foil is a flashy accessory? Tin foil keeps your key germ free? Taking your key out of the foil to unlock your car will give you that Christmas morning vibe six times a day?

AND A BONUS! 9. “How-to story ideas”

“Looking for fun story ideas for a how-to section: Are you a source for an educational how-to story?”

This is what an editor or reporter does when they have completely run out of ideas: asks the HARO community to do their job.

Here’s four ideas for this writer: See queries #1 and #3 above and ask for an expert on HARO.

Send your ridiculous HARO queries to me via Twitter (@juliewright) and I’ll publish another roundup of doozies.

By the way, if you haven’t been using HARO but would like to get started, I recommend checking out this tip sheet before you start responding: https://www.cision.com/us/resources/tip-sheets/haro-practices

P.S. It took extra effort to keep this blog post #SFW and PG-13. Apparently, HARO is the Tinder of expert source apps.

P.S.S. Even Tinder posted a query to HARO recently–ironically, the Tinder writer was seeking an asexual person for an interview (there being none on Tinder, I guess.)

 

Three Essential Marketing Tactics for Hospitality Brands

3 Marketing Trends for Hospitality Brands

1. Integrate the influencers

In this era of diminishing trust, the public craves authenticity. This is reflected in the massive growth of a hospitality marketing tactic that recently established itself and is expected to experience five times more growth by 2021– influencer marketing. Rather than sticking to the basic ad placement that’s blatantly meant to sell, influencer marketing creates a sense of sincerity. The influencer isn’t seen as some big corporation looking to make money, but rather as an admired friend that’s looking to inform their followers about a great product or destination that they think they’ll enjoy.

Influencers are now widely used in campaigns, but there are a few important steps you need to take prior to introducing an influencer into your hospitality brand’s campaign.

  • Assess the campaign goals as well as the overall goal of the brand
  • Analyze the influencer’s audience
  • Evaluate the type of content the influencer posts to see if it will actually aid in achieving your brand’s goals (i.e. geotagging, hashtags, tagging, shots of the hotel/destination)
  • Most importantly, track the levels of engagement between the influencer and followers

After assessing your goals and properly vetting the influencer, communicate your goals to the influencer. Don’t simply offer money or free product to the influencer in exchange for specific content. Instead, collaborate with the influencer to ensure they understand the mission of your brand and empower them to create the content that will resonate with their followers the best. This process results in content that feels more genuine and is more appropriate for the target audience.

2. Freshen up your storytelling

With the plethora of channels used by consumers to share and exchange information, it’s getting harder and harder for a hospitality brand’s content to stand out. Yes, being an outstanding writer is important, but what communicators now have to consider is how to best present their message to the audience in a fun, creative and visual way. Luckily for us, there’s a variety of exciting new storytelling tools at our disposal. From virtual reality to drones to infographics to 360 ° cameras, take advantage of these tools to create unique stories that immerse the viewer and hint at the kind of experience they will have if they choose your hospitality brand.

The point of using these technologies is to help spark a feeling about your brand through content. The ultimate at doing this is Disney. Instead of focusing on specifications and features – X number of beds, X amenities, $X per night, etc. – you should be focusing on the experience they deliver and the emotions surrounding it.

Sidenote, if you’re interested in hearing more about how to use 360° cameras in your campaign, read this post by WOC President and Founder Julie Wright.

3. Listen and engage

Two-way communication has never been more important than it is today. Users are not only consuming content, but they’re also creating it. Not only does user-generated content remove some of the hassle of creating original content, but it also creates a feeling of authenticity. Plus, an unpaid consumer sharing their experience with your brand is third party validation just like great media coverage.

Take advantage of this user-generated content and find ways to include it in your communications strategies. To find this content,  deploy social listening campaigns. Through social listening, hospitality brands are able to spot content where they’re featured and identify what’s being said about them. An excellent social listening tool is Hootsuite, which enables you to link and create dashboards for multiple social platforms that show streams of mentions, comments or shares so you can quickly and easily share or respond.

 

Natalia Xibille —Communications Coordinator