It may surprise business owners that such a thing as reputation management companies exist in Houston, but they not only exist, they can save a business from avoidable public relations hits. Whoever said “there’s no such thing as bad press” didn’t see the internet coming, but there certainly are consequences to negative feedback and outright attacks online. There’s a reason why Fortune 500 businesses employ many people to keep their brand image positive. It’s because these businesses know how hard it is to regain consumer trust and confidence after they are squandered, and there are services out there to prevent that very scenario.
How can reputation management companies in Houston protect a business?
First and foremost, these services operate ethically, so they don’t seek to censor or silence customers that are justifiably unhappy with the business. Those people have a right to voice their opinion, and if a business is discovered actively censoring its critics, it will only result in long-term damage to the brand. Instead of engaging in underhanded tactics, a service will attempt to counter the negativity with a brand-positive message. The lynchpin of this defense is to build strong SEO that ranks content produced by the business, or content that is favorable to the business. People don’t typically go past the first page of results in a search engine, and often don’t look past the first few items. If these first few items are favorable toward the business, then it will boost perception of the business.
In general, it is best for a company to keep the professionals that manage its image close by. This job involves a lot of interaction with local media, blogs, social media accounts and directories. It is practically impossible for someone outside of the Bayou City area to know who to talk to inside the area. Every city has its own manner of speaking, its own slang, if you will. A firm will use this to the company’s advantage, building trust among Houstonians.
Reputation management companies in Houston often utilize social media as a second primary tactic, as it can effectively go on the attack. While SEO is meant to push negative messages out of the spotlight, social media helps the business quickly disperse its mission, its personality, and its trustworthiness to many people. Social media, though, is a slippery thing that should not be handled by an untrained person. Even a single, casual mistake on social media can quickly blow up and gain a lot of attention, and not the good kind. There are plenty of sites dedicated to just highlighting various social media faux paus, and if a business’s social media account ends up on one, it can be a disaster. That’s why businesses usually allow their management firm to handle the social media aspect as well. Working with the firm, a business can dictate what information is released to the public, when it is released, and what tone it should be wrapped with. Think of it as a direct line into the consumer’s ear.
These services are like online PR firms, and as every business owner knows, there is nothing more precious than how consumers view the business.