Reputation management

Reputation management refers to influencing and controlling an individual's or business's reputation. Originally a public relations term,  the expansion of the internet and social media, along with reputation management companies, have made it primarily an issue of search results.
In business, your reputation is everything. You can build a great online reputation fast. There's just one problem: The Internet moves fast, and with a few missteps, you can hit rock bottom just as quickly as you rose to that coveted 5-star rating.
Reputation management services can help both businesses and individuals build and maintain a positive online presence .And it adds value to your brand, contributes longevity and visibility to your career or organization, and helps prevent your identity from being appropriated and misused by others.

Avoiding social media is not a strategy for avoiding reputation bruising. Whether you are there or not your goal is part of the social media. Others are joining social media there listening, and starting related conversations. So knowing what others are talking can be half of the battle.

Company should know about the social media crises. It is a reputation bruising event and that unfolds in social media or is amplified there in the form of an ugly, people driven responses.

Company should concern the triggers a crisis. There are;
•Product failure- Actual or alleged product failures from the company’s part
•Pressure groups- Product movements or alleged by pressure groups which are not necessarily about product failures
•Legal action- Legal action against the company, which may or may not necessarily be about product failures
•Individual complains- Individual customers, bloggers, or journalist marketing complains. Eg. United Break Guitars 2009

How you response initially to a situation can decide whether it turns into a crisis or not. A brand centric incident affected to the turn situation in to the crisis.
Those are;
•Initial responses
•Timing
•Critical mass
•Pressure groups
•Empathy towards victims
•Political of powers

Company can prepare their brand for a social media crisis in three ways.

1.Social media task force -This is a term of company representatives who would make decisions on responding to social conversations regarding the brand.
2.Listen post- is the internal processes and tools designed for scanning the social web and gather social media conversations about the brand

3.Response mechanism- Response to what? When? By whom?.

There have some strategies to overcome crisis.
•Control negativity- Eg. Talk with the media stations and try to control negativity.
•Defuse positivity- try to build up the positive attitudes against with the crisis, by using CSR program or personal relationship program
•Channelizing the content- try to get action to reduce impact of the crisis
•Reframe the content- try to give different meaning of crisis. Eg. Informed  crisis impact arises due to the competitors actions
•Reorient the story- convert crisis social conversation in to another way
•Corporate for the solution- agree or try to give technical solutions.