Corporate Reputation at RiskSocial Media

Created by: Alex Schaerer

“As people spend more time on the Internet,managing reputation on social media becomes increasingly important for public relations” – Nielsen1

2.34B

1.87B

319M

Social Network Users Worldwide2

Active Facebook Users Worldwide2

Active Twitter Monthly Users2

Online,thesefactorsexperienceanewlevelofscrutiny:notonlydousersexpectorganizationstocommunicatehonestlyandopenly,buttheyhavethemeanstosearchanduncoverfactsthatorganizationswouldprefer tohide.3

The latest figures show that Internet users spend most of their time on social networks, and half of all social media users said that at least once a month they had expressed complaints or concerns about brands or services on social media.3

1. Damage tobrandreputation2. Disclosureofproprietaryand/orconfidential information3. Corporateidentitytheft4. Legal,regulatoryandcompliance violations4

4CorporateRisksAssociatedwithSocialMedia4

Nearlythree-quarters(71%)ofexecutivessurveyedwereconcerned aboutthepotentialrisksinvolvedintheuseofsocialmedia,buttheybelievetheriskscanbemitigatedoravoided.4

Having a very clear public relations strategy around social media communication is mission critical. The velocityand the visibility of social media communications is not to be underestimated.5

3 Ways the Web Has Changed the Business World6

1. The declining effects of traditional marketing

2. Decreasing customer trust

3. Increasing customer power due to more alternatives, more information and more transactions

Socialmediahaschangedthewaypeoplecommunicate intermsofpaceandreachofcommunication,thereforecontentonsocialmediacanturnintoathreat andthethreatcanturnintoarapidcommunicationcrisis.Theprevailingdilemmaorganizationsarefacingisthatwhiletheyrecognizetheimportanceofsocialmediainteraction,theytendtolackcorporatecapabilities tomanagecrisiscommunicationeffectively.6

Usersofsocialmediaapplicationsproducemostlyunverifiedinformation,whichtendtobeboth,trueandfalse.Theinformationcreatedandsharedbyuserscoulddiffersignificantly fromwhatorganizationspubliclydisclose.6

”Whenmarketersarenottransparentandconsumersdiscoverthesecretsourceforthemselves,theycanbecomequiteunhappywiththemessageand/orthemedia.Bynothavingtransparentmarketing,corporatereputationinturnbecomesflawedastheconsumernolongertruststhecompany.”7

Ofthegeneralpublicindicatedtheyproactivelyseekinformationaboutthecompaniestheydobusinesswith

72%OpinionElitesinvestigatecorporate

behaviorbeforebuying

53%

Consumersaredoingtheirhomework8

So… whatcancompaniesdo?Followthe6StepsforProtectingCorporateReputationintheSocialMediaAge9

1.Don’tPretenda Crisis Is Not Happening

Respondrightaway.Itisnolongeracceptabletowaithoursordaystorespondbackviasocialmedia.Timeisoftheessence,thereforeawellcraftedresponseiscrucialtoemployassoonasthecrisisbegins.9

2.Don’tMakeanEmptyGestureDonotfeedthepublicanapologyorexplanationthathasnomerit.Socialmediauserscapitalizeontheseresponsesandwilleatacompanyalive.9

3.Don’tRefuseto Backtrack“Socialmediashouldbeusedasatoolforhonestcommunication.Admityourmistake,andspeakdirectlytoyourcustomersabouthowyou'llbegoingbacktofixthings.”9

4.Develop Channels ofCommunication

EnsurethatcorporatechannelssuchasFacebook,Twitter,Blog,Instagrametc.arestrongandhaveapresencethatwillreachtheconsumers.9

5.Establish a CrisisCommunicationsResponseTeamCompaniesmustdrivethemessagingandresponse.Uselisteningplatforms,monitorsentiment,andestablishadedicatedteamtoinformandadviseinternalandexternalstakeholdersofissuesandresponses.9

6.BecomeInfluentialandChange PerceptionsIfthecompanydoesnotbecomeinfluentialtheybecomeirrelevant Usethesechannelstofocustheconversationaroundyourbrandsothatwhenacrisisdoesarise,youhavemorecontrolovertheperception.9

Protecting your company’s reputation is

an ongoing business process.

ResearchReferences• 1.Nielsen.(2012).StateoftheMedia:SocialMediaReport2012.USA:Nielsen.Retrievedfromhttp://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/social/2012/Phillips,D.,&Young,P.(2009).Onlinepublicrelations:Apracticalguidetodevelopinganonlinestrategyintheworldofsocialmedia.Philadelphia:Kogan PageLtd.

• 2."Topic:SocialMediaStatistics."Www.statista.com.May12,2016.AccessedMarch05,2017.https://www.statista.com/topics/1164/social-networks/.

• 3.Ott,Larissa,andPetraTheunissen."Reputationsatrisk:Engagementduringsocialmediacrises." PublicRelationsReview 41,no.1(2015):97-102.doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.10.015. (Coursesource)

• 4.GrantThorton."Socialmediarisksandrewards."September2013.AccessedMarch5,2017.https://www.grantthornton.com/~/media/content-page-files/%20advisory/pdfs/2013/ADV-social-media-survey.ashx.

• 5.Video"FILM240Module02Lecture02Part02"fromSidneyeve Matrixvia Vimeo (CourseSource)• 6.Hövener,Michael."CorporateReputationalRiskManagement:ThePowerofSocialMedia."AccessedMarch5,2017.http://essay.utwente.nl/68528/1/hovener_BA_IBA.pdf.

• 7.ColinCampbell,LawrenceJ.Marks,Goodnativeadvertisingisn’tasecret,BusinessHorizons,Volume58,Issue6,November–December2015,Pages599-606,ISSN0007-6813,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2015.06.003.(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681315000841) (CourseSource)

• 8.TheHarrisPoll."TheHarrisPollReleasesAnnualReputationRankingsForThe100MostVisibleCompaniesInTheU.S."Business.AccessedMarch05,2017.http://www.theharrispoll.com/business/Reputation-Rankings-Most-Visible-Companies.html.

• 9.Revis,Layla."6StepsforProtectingCorporateReputationintheSocialMediaAge."Mashable.January02,2012.AccessedMarch05,2017.http://mashable.com/2012/01/02/corporate-reputation-social-media/#8jqXc6x5Uiqw.

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