Reputation Management

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Reputation ManagementA Closer Look At Blogs

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Some of our clients have serious issues…

global warming, pollution, genetically modified foods, equal pay, labor rights, corporate misconduct, predatory lending, medical malpractice reform, death penalty reform, right to die, gay marriage, abortion, illegal immigration, stem cell research, school choice, foster care reform, child poverty, wilderness protection, energy policy, biotechnology, youth voting, public health, Iraq war, privacy rights, AIDS, social security, animal born disease, civil rights, separation of church and state, community development, affordable housing, youth violence, teen pregnancy, homelessness, microenterprise development, higher education reform, disaster relief, poverty relief, family planning, violence against women, racial profiling, welfare reform, campaign finance reform…

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Reputation Management: A Closer Look at Blogs

• Blog Basics

• Why Blogs are important in Reputation Management

• Monitoring Blogs

• Effective Engagement in the Blogosphere

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Blog Basics1 new Blog per second

Technotati tracks 35.3 million Blogs (April 2006)

39% of Internet Users (57 million American Adults) report reading Blogs

Sources: EMarketer, Business of Blogging 2006; Pew Internet & American Life, 2006 Blogging Survey; Technorati 2006

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Blog Basics

• 77% think Blogs are a good way to get information about a company or product

• 33% of Journalists say they use Blogs to uncover breaking news or scandals

• Blogs account for 26% of SE rankings on Fortune 500 Company/Brand names

• Blogs appeared in News Search SERPS on 7 of the top 10 Fortune 100 companies; Feb 2006

• Bloggers most trusted source of information about companies/products: OTHER BLOGGERS (62.8%)

Sources: ComScore, BBC Report, Euro RSGC Magnet Survey, Jupiter Media, RB Search on Google News Feb 23rd, 2006; Emarketer, Business of Blogging 2006

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Blogs and Consumer Generated Media

Discussion Boards/Forums/Opinion & Review Sites

Google Groups/UseNetBlogs

44% of Internet users create content, but how much of that is Blogs?

Sources: Pew Internet & American Life 2005; Intelliseek, 2005

Note: This data is several months old; does not include other forms of social media. Latest numbers show only 8% create Blogs.

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If Blogs aren’t the biggest source of Consumer Generated Media, why are they

so important?

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Search Engines give Blogs an inflated “Share of Voice”

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Blogs are highly visible across multiple Search channels

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Blogs dominate SERPs on“Brand + [negative keyword]” searches

•Citing norms

•Linking

•Tagging

•Fast Indexing

…8 of 10 top listings on “Dell Hell”

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Blogs are the source of long term, consistent voices

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Jeff Jarvis & Dell Hell: July 2005 - ???

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Bloggers can develop a following quickly (and unexpectedly)

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6 of the top 10 Blogs were either not around last year or were not in top 100…

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Bloggers create CGM across multiple channels

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Dave:

• 2 Blogs

• 1 Family Genealogy Site

• 42 reviews (books, movies)

• 2 comments on Volokh Conspiracy (indexed by search engines); led to one original post on VK

Dave: So many CGM opportunities, so little time

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And not just any CGM…

Bloggers are highly engaged in social interaction technology,

which is strongly viral and visible on search engines

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• 44% of Bloggers have taken existing content (video, audio, images, etc.), remixed it and shared online;

• 77% of Bloggers have authored original, non-text content (video, audio, etc.) and shared online;

• Bloggers report that My Space is the #2 most preferred Blogging platform (LiveJournal is #1);

• So what?

Bloggers and Social Interaction

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Bloggers are powerful viral agents for content that is ALREADY powerfully viral…

67% of links to recent Mel Gibson

videos are Bloggers

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• Spring 2006: Chevy launches “The Apprentice” – online contest to create the best TV commercial for the Chevy Tahoe

• Environmental groups seize the opportunity; ask members and supporters to create protest commercials

Chevy Tahoe Example

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Fearing that Chevy will remove the protest ads, creators post them on You Tube

Bloggers light the viral fire

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Journalists follow Blogs

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Euro RSCG Magnet Survey

• 51% of journalists use Blogs regularly• 70% for work-related tasks

• 53% to find story ideas

• 43% to research and reference facts

• 36% to find sources

• 33% to uncover breaking news or scandals

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Ok, I get it. What am I supposed to do about it?

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Step 1: Listen/Monitor

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Monitor what Bloggers are saying to stay in front of developing problems!

Influence of SpeakerDemographicsMentions/SpeakersCitation Trends

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Monitoring what is visible in Search Engines

General Negative:Company + problemsCompany + criticismsCompany + product reviewsCompany + liesCompany + sucks

Issue Negative:Walmart + sex discriminationWalmart + pollutionWalmart + environmentWalmart + morning after pill

Activist Organization TerminologyWalmart ProtestWalmart “Take Action”

Activist Organizations/NamesGreenpeace + Monsanto

CEO/Key Staff Names

Product Feature AttributesAcura Lexus ReliabilityPampers safety

Monitor Rankings/Changes in Rankings On:

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Step 2: Get Over It – Take a deep breath and Engage. If you engage effectively, there may be fewer voices to “drown out” or push down in the rankings

Sources: Emarketer Business of Blogging, 2006; Edelman/Technorati Survey

• 50% of Bloggers write about companies once per week

• Only 21% report regular contact from companies they write about; most in the form of unsolicited press releases

• 48% say they are NEVER contacted by companies

• Only 2% say they don’t want contact

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Develop a trust-based relationship with Bloggers

• Communicate (Talk AND Listen) regularly – the good, the bad, the mistakes

• Don’t develop a reputation for shilling, spamming, or participating in any unethical marketing practices!

• Don’t sugar coat, don’t misquote or misrepresent a Blogger’s opinion

• Develop a response protocol for negative coverage!

50% of negative word of mouth stems from a feeling of injustice!

Dell, You Just Don’t Get It (BL Ochman)

“Two posts on Dell one to one Blog have noted that they think I am very pleased and satisfied that someone from Dell called me to say they wanted to resolve the Dell technical support issues I’ve had…

…So Dell, stop saying that I am thrilled with these phone calls. Because, like your blog, they are nothing but a PR Ploy…”

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**Consider** Creating Blog(s)

• Don’t do it without a clear vision;

• Don’t use the Blog for spin (Dell);

• Be prepared for negative comments, negative reviews, etc. and RESPOND

• Content strategy should focus on what interests the customer, not on the marketing message you are trying to drill into the customer’s head. Interesting examples:

www.Nirol.com/us/blogwww.fordoutfront.com

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Engage Bloggers for feedback

• Bloggers are early adopters; consider allowing them to preview your new product or service or to review it;

• Don’t be afraid of negative coverage! If there is a problem and you fix it, you will get kudos, positive coverage and perhaps a big fan

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Turn happy customers into Bloggers

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Encourage customer evangelists to Blog

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The best marketing won’t fix bad products, bad customer service, bad business practices, etc.

“You can put lipstick on a hog and call it Monique…it’s still just a pig.”

Ann Richards, Former Governor of Texas

Final Thought