And that’s the truth. Today’s “word of mouth” is expressed and shared on social media which impacts your search engine rankings. When prospective clients and customers are in need of a product or service, they first Google it and then mozy-on over to the reviews, articles and other forms of online content that may provide them with the insight and answers they’re looking for. It all plays in together.
The same goes in a crisis. You can’t just think in terms of traditional crisis management anymore, you have to remember the search engines. How are the conversations, articles and blog posts discussing the crisis going to:
- Impact your organization’s online rankings?
- Affect your organization’s online reputation for the long-term?
It all plays in together today, every dot connected with the previous and the next. Add the fact that YouTube, Google Plus and Google Search are intrinsically linked together and your head might just explode from the realization of it all!
However, when you plan and prepare for this reality in advance you can provide your organization with the tools and opportunities to be a step way ahead of the rest – including the crisis. It’s one thing to have high rankings when the waters are calm. It’s another to keep those high rankings when the shit hits the fan. The only way to protect your organization from the risk of it all is to realize that your online reputation is your reputation and to put strategic measures in place to make sure that your organization is as protected and prepared as possible.
How much attention have you given your online reputation on a crisis preparedness front? Want to learn more? Contact Agnes + Day.
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted keynote speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. Learn more about Melissa and her work here.
This is so much the truth. Pretty much all online media is social these days, so whatever you do impacts your reputation. And at this point, if you're not talking about yourself, your brand, your identity, whatever, chances are someone else is talking about you in particular or you by association.
Well put, Kristin. There's so much risk and there's also so much opportunity. It's about being aware of our options and then doing what we can to empower our online reputation to work for and with us – especially in a crisis situation.
Fully agree but we go further. "You are the same, as your image on the net. The rest is illusion." That is more metaphisicaly approach. We call this phenomenon the "digital identity", how we look in the mirror's of the internet. Hm?
I wouldn't necessarily say that the rest is illusion. Reality is reality as well, and it all plays in together. But I understand the direction you're taking.
Thx Melissa, of course you are right, there is reality.
But never forget, that according to Plato physical objects and physical events are "shadows" of their ideal or perfect forms, and exist only to the extent that they instantiate the perfect versions of themselves:-)
In other words, to make a new context to this theory, what is the "thruth" about the stability and precision of the Volvo Dynamic Steering System? You (and I, of course) didn't know anything about it, until nowdays. But Van Damme's epic split generate a brand new knowledge about Volvo trucks, and it's steering system. And it becames "reality". So what is the real reality?:-)
I think the real reality is not that it is, but what we construct in ourself from the media, and mainly from the new media.
Any company that does not realize that your online reputation is your reputation is in denial. Even if your company does not engage in social media (although it should), they are still being talked about online. Traditional news broadcasts and stories eventually make it to websites and social media.
We now live in age of integrated communication. There is no more online vs. traditional; it is all converged into one. Company's do not have multiple reputations; they have one.