At Charlotte Content Marketing, we provide reputation management solutions, and a big part of reputation management involves driving adverse content down by promoting positive content. To do this, we first need to recognize that this puzzle has two distinct parts. First is reputation planning, also sometimes referred to as reputation marketing. This is where we know that some negative news may be headed our way, so we get out in front of it. Essentially, we’re frontloading positive content to tamp down the negative.

The next part of this involves reacting to adverse content. This is often more strategic because, at this point, the negative story is out there, so we at least have a chance to counteract specific issues. During the reputation planning period, we anticipate certain things, but we won’t know how things will go until everything is out. We can take our best shot at it, but until the damaging story surfaces, we won’t have the finer talking points. Once something is out, we can dig deeper into a strategy to combat specific issues. In a sense, the opposing force has revealed its hand, and we can match details equally.

Shaping the Narrative

Content marketing, as it relates to reputation management, is all about shaping the narrative and controlling the direction of the conversation. Traditional attempts at this have involved direct press release-type statements to address specific issues or incidents head-on. This is one approach, and it can work in your favor, but it can also backfire. So instead, what we want to do is take the attention off of the issue. By addressing it in some grandiose way, we’re keeping the focus on the event, and even if we’re successful in swaying some people, the negative story is still the focus.

Instead, we will create content and get it circulating and ranking on the web so that when people search for specific individuals, organizations, news stories, and events, they will find a counterbalance. Depending on the nature of the incident and how widespread it is, for instance, if this was some international news story, content may not be the correct answer, or at least you may need more than strategic content. If this is the case, our team will be honest with you and let you know. Reputation management and content marketing are both long-term solutions. You can gain traction to tamp down harmful content quickly, but the results of using short-term strategies are just that – short-term.

Your Reputation Becomes You

The thing is, your reputation on the Internet is you to many people. To people who don’t know you in person, who they see online is you, and if that persona is portrayed in a negative light, then you might as well be that person. Even though you know the truth, and even if the way a situation is being portrayed is entirely false, perception is everything. So we want to control the direction of the conversation. We’re not going to engage in a back-and-forth. We’re not trying to defend ourselves. Instead, we’re putting out the truth and presenting you as the real you, not the person you’re portrayed as in the media.

We want to steer the conversation away from the negative. This can be done in different ways depending on the circumstances, but in a nutshell, we look for ways to take the negative story and shape it for our purposes. So, for instance, if you represent a company that has had a significant workplace accident and your company is gaining attention for this, we don’t want to talk about the accident directly. Instead, we want to put out content that highlights your company’s commitment to safety and customer satisfaction.

Monitoring is Key to Address Specifics

In this case, we monitor the web and social media channels to learn precisely what people are saying, their questions, and what content is spreading. This gives us specific points to weave into our response. We then create web, social media, infographics, video, and podcast content to craft the narrative that your company is dedicated to protecting employees and customers. And this is where search engine optimization comes in. When we can monitor sources of negative stories and perform keyword research to beat that content, our team can really dig in and directly target the harmful content. We then leverage customer testimonials and success stories, highlight any awards, and encourage you to take this time to engage with customers.

As an aside, this last part serves two purposes. First, it allows your business to demonstrate empathy in the face of adversity and provides an opportunity to glean customer testimonials. We want to get these customer testimonials on video to put a human face on the response. Once again, we’re not addressing the incident directly, but through indirect action, we are addressing the underlying sentiment surrounding the situation.

Don’t Perpetuate the Cycle

While it’s a good idea to issue a public statement via press release or statement on your brand’s website, we won’t focus on that. Concentrating on the incident and aftermath can be a death sentence. It perpetuates the news cycle and puts your brand back at square one every time you address it. So we’re going to issue a statement, true, but then we’re focused on moving forward. We’re not staying mired in a cycle where the same questions and accusations require answers repeatedly.

Lastly, we monitor and record progress through social media and web traffic. This can help to tune our strategy as time goes by. Monitoring may be an ongoing process well after the event is contained since it can take a while for attention to fade and stories to be put to rest. There’s no one specific way to address all reputation management concerns using content, so our first step is always to meet confidentially with clients who believe that they or their brand may be at risk of reputational harm.

To learn more about how content marketing can help in reputation management, contact Charlotte Content Marketing to schedule your free, confidential consultation. We understand that now is a difficult time, and our team wants to provide support and guidance so you have one less thing to worry about.

Call Charlotte Content Marketing today to get started by dialing (704) 323-6762, or click to use our online contact form right now.