@briansolis @BrianSol is principal analyst & author
Oct 21, 2014
@briansolis
@BrianSolisprincipal analyst & author
Ignorance is bliss until it’s not.
There are over 400 MILLION TWEETS published on Twitter every day.
Real-time is the real world
There is over 48 HOURS OF VIDEO uploaded every day on YouTube.
Real-time is the real world
The internet has leveled the playing field between large corporations and individual activists.
Leslie Gaines Ross, author of Reputation Warfare
Attackers…are almost always highly emotional, if not irrational.
Business leaders have no advance notice or time to reflect.
REPUTATIONThe beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something
REPUTATION WARFAREThe ongoing battle of tracking and converting negative expressions to amplify positive impressions
REPUTATION SNIPERSStakeholders who take shots at brands with an intent to wound or debilitate a reputation for a cause, resolution or self-interest
REPUTATION MERCENARIESPaid soldiers who attack reputations in concerted efforts to change how consumers perceive the brand and its products
Reputation is not something you should “react” to, it is something that you and your community should build and protect…relentlessly
Competitors – big and small
Your threats are many. Battle strategies must now
cover multiple fronts
CustomersActivists
Employees
Social media amplifies impressions and experiences…creating a collective
tsunami of shared sentiment
Conversations reach a boiling point that
spills into mainstream media fanning
the flames and prolonging the crisis
Crises impact sales, employee morale, advocacy, confidence, and worst of all, TRUST.
How you are structured today. How you think about social media. How executives value the role of engagement are all designed to #FAIL in reputation warfare.
Think about how you respond to problems today.
Most businesses remain silent, hoping the problem will disappear. When they’re ready to respond, the message is run through layers of bureaucracy.
The final communiqué sounds mechanical and heartless.
It is with good reason that trust falls.
When you hide behind a dark curtain, it’s impossible to be transparent.
Trust is earned…over and over.
“Your brand is what someone says about you when you’re not in the
room.”
Jeff Bezos, Amazon
Winning a Reputation WAR starts with shifting from a reactive philosophy to a proactive and ongoing Reputation awareness campaign
Community is much more than belonging to something, it's about
doing something together that makes belonging matter
What do you stand for?
The best reputation warfare strategy is to define your brand in a time of peace…
From listening to engagement, reputation warfare requires a triage process and a path between people, responses, and resolution…in real-time.
Example of a Triage Map
Threats are constant. Not all require engagement, but you do need to gauge virality, importance, and responsibility
Develop a Threat Level Gauge
When your formulate a response…who are you writing or speaking to?
Often we “talk” to the people we want to approve the message not the people we’re trying to reach and sway.
Employees are often part of the problem. They are also part of the solution.
They need training, direction and empowerment to diffuse problems before and after they rise.
You can’t do this alone. The social web is rich with detractors AND promoters.
Find your advocates and engage your influencers BEFORE you need them. Then arm them with social content and information in times of need to spread your side of the story.
Your Front Line
Preparing for a Reputation War requires a vision, strategy and a trained AND equipped force force to shape and steer your reputation in good times and in crisis.
Dark Sites
Communities
Ambassadors
Influencers
SEO
Social Content (SMO)
Threat Gauge
Promise
Education
Triage
In the end, it takes a culture of engagement and transparency to win in Reputation Warfare
Brian Solis
briansolis.com
Twitter: @briansolis
For more information & to buy the
books,
please visit:
http://bit.ly/EndofBusiness
http://bit.ly/engage2