The Role of Digital in Reputation Management
CHARITY MARKETING CONFERENCE
8 OCTOBER
Reputation Management
Emily Munford, Head of Digital
SOCIAL, WEB, EMAIL, SEO, DIGITAL CONTENT
Agenda
• Set the scene
• How we manage our reputation
• When it works well…and when it doesn’t
• Key learnings
Summary 2013 TOTAL MEDIA COVERAGE
Summary 2013 NEGATIVE STORIES CONCENTRATED IN CERTAIN PAPERS
RSPCA digital
• Facebook - 510,000 Likes
• Twitter - 172,000 followers
• Pinterest, Google +, YouTube
• 1.2 million visits pm to website
Reasons why people like us
• Active – we are the “Government” body
helping animals (but we’re not)
• Trustworthy – what we say is correct • Trustworthy – what we say is correct
• “Go to” organisation for animal welfare
• Professional – 190 years of saving animals
Reasons why people dislike us
• Authoritarian – we prosecute
• “Political” campaigning – hunting, badgers
• Disagree with our policies
• Frustration – lock ’em up!
• Customer service issues – we don’t do enough
NB: Insert
more positive
CLICK TO EDIT MASTER TEXT STYLES
Digital Review & StrategyFebruary 2012
more positive
RSPCA
person and
animal pic
from
photolibrary
So how do we manage our reputation?
PeopleONLY AS GOOD AS THE PEOPLE YOU’VE GOT
• Press/Digital/Call centre/Frontline staff
• Strength in external partnerships• Strength in external partnerships
• Statements prepared and approved (1 or 2)
• “On the ground” liaison officer, if needed
• Take things off line where possible
Tools and productsSEO, SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING, ANALYTICS
Using SEO
• Language being used – linguistic profiling, keyword research
• Content on our site reflects both the issues and the language
being used – content gap analysis, copy optimisation
• Content is in the line of sight of those who are discussing • Content is in the line of sight of those who are discussing
the issues – blogger outreach, article syndication, social links
• Outcome = search engines see us as being relevant and
authoritative; we rank highly; people find our content when
searching
…we appear above DEFRA
Our badger campaigns page is,
on average, two positions higher
than the DEFRA page on the than the DEFRA page on the
same subject for the search
phrase badger cull on
google.co.uk
Processes
• On call rota and comms
• Social media ambassadors• Social media ambassadors
• Major Incident Group (MIG)
• Crisis fundraising appeals
Social media monitoring
• Create queries that monitor topics that are relevant
to our work
• Use the results to ascertain the opinion of both the
public (Facebook, Twitter etc), press (news sites) and
special interest groups (forums) and use this special interest groups (forums) and use this
intelligence to inform marketing, PR and press activity
• Monitor the perception of the RSPCA brand,
specific topics as well as measure the level of coverage
per campaign
Processes ONGOING CONTENT AUDIT, SECTION BY SECTION
• Major Incident Group
• Social cover email group• Social cover email group
So what happens in practice?
Sometimes it works…SEALS STORM SURGE
• 108 pups in one month – usually 120 in a
year – quick reaction, sell in to TV, put out
request for help, regional releasesrequest for help, regional releases
• 80% released
• Celebrity endorsement
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Seals
• Sky, BBC, ITV all covered release
• Regular updates on social media
• 4,000 retweets on one update
• Raised £110,000
• “Saved the day”
Strong images are key
Sometimes it doesn’t work so well…
ONE FATEFUL WEEKEND IN DECEMBER…
• Article saying we are ‘sinister and nasty’ –
sensitive as we are seen as Goliath
• Inundated with queries about a disabled dog
• Horses in flood plain/seal stuck in a pool
Negative press
RSPCA has become 'sinister and nasty', warns
head of the Countryside Alliance…to stop
donating to the “once great institution” and
says charity is more interested in animal rights
than promoting welfare
How we responded…
• Statement to press and social; rally the troops
• MIG established; information chain set up
• Regular updates; repetition of message
• Used photo and facts to counter accusations
When we have all the pieces in place…
• End non-stun slaughter
– 56,000 signatures– 56,000 signatures
• Badger cull
– 304,112 signatures
– biggest e-petition
-
Constantly building our reputation
Creative messaging
Reinforcing key messages
HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOUR FAMILY
ABANDONED YOU?
HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=8DKRXXCKAOKHTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=8DKRXXCKAOK
In summary
• Right people; right processes; right tools
• Power of content – images, video
• Embrace the shareability of social• Embrace the shareability of social
• Speed and agility but readiness to
disengage
• You can’t win every time
Any questions?
Thank you
Over to you…
• What one thing would damage
your charity the most?your charity the most?
• How could you manage it most
effectively on digital?
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