The Impact of Crisis Communication on Business Reputation
Today’s digital world can make business crises unpreventable. A natural disaster, security breach or media scandal are all potential dangers that require quick action to repair trust and preserve reputations. Swift communication can help rebuild confidence quickly.
Effective crisis communication requires creating and adhering to an objective narrative, as well as monitoring and responding to feedback, addressing rumors, and correcting misinformation.
1. Negative Media Coverage
Crisis can strike at any moment for any company and its repercussions may quickly become visible through media coverage. A crisis can damage a brand’s reputation while negatively affecting customers, employees and shareholders of that brand.
Companies seeking to avoid negative media coverage should devise a crisis communication plan in advance of any crisis, which includes selecting an official spokesperson who can address stakeholders and the media during any emergency situation. It is vital that this person has undergone proper training so as to maintain consistency while preventing any miscommunication that could harm the reputation of the business.
People tend to respond more favorably when communicating using real communication and empathy; therefore, during times of crisis a company spokesperson should employ this approach when speaking on its behalf. Furthermore, any promises made during such times should be fulfilled; an example being Snapchat CEO Nick Sandow sending his team members an email directly after experiencing cyber hacking was tremendously effective in improving its image.
2. Customer Complaints
Customer complaints can have a devastating effect on your business’ reputation, with even minor ones going viral on social media and causing irreparable harm to its brand. But customer feedback can also provide invaluable insight into your products and services; transparent companies that prioritize honesty in crisis communication can mitigate incidents by being transparent about them and work toward rebuilding consumer trust more quickly than their competition.
Customer complaints generally cover product, service and communication-related concerns. Customer support teams should be trained to quickly address these issues with efficient strategies that make the consumer feel heard while also building trust with brands avoiding blame or shifting responsibility away from themselves.
3. Negative Social Media Coverage
Social media makes negative news stories spread quickly, with immediate and detrimental results to your business. Effective crisis communication requires monitoring both media and social media for potential problems, responding promptly to rumors or inaccurate statements made therein, correcting inaccuracies where necessary and showing you are taking measures to remedy them.
Internal communications can also play a crucial role in managing crises. Informing and engaging employees with factual information will reduce confusion, maintain morale and establish trust with one another.
United Airlines demonstrated this behavior when they came under scrutiny in 2017 for forcibly dragging a customer off a flight due to overbooking, quickly shifting course, apologizing, and taking actions against themselves in order to rectify the problem and improve their reputation – something any business facing a crisis should strive to emulate.
4. Negative Online Reviews
Online review sites provide customers with an avenue for airing their opinions about businesses. Unfortunately, disgruntled customers often skew feedback negatively. Establishing and maintaining a positive online reputation are integral parts of winning new business; negative reviews can damage this image and cause potential buyers to doubt the quality of products or services you offer.
Making an effort to respond swiftly and publicly to negative online reviews shows your company cares about customer satisfaction. Responding quickly demonstrates your openness and honesty in handling complaints about your services or products.
Negative reviews can also help your business identify and correct issues. For instance, when multiple consumers raise the same complaint about long waits for shipping, it could indicate an issue in your fulfillment process that needs addressing in order to prevent future complaints and enhance customer experience.
5. Negative Search Engine Results
One piece of negative online content can have a devastating effect on your business reputation. Counteracting it with online ORM strategies will redirect attention toward positive reviews and testimonials that reinforce trustworthiness while simultaneously strengthening credibility and trustworthiness.
Page one of a search engine result page (SERP) makes an indelible first impression for both individuals and businesses alike, so a negative listing on page one could severely harm either reputations or drive away prospective clients.
Internal and external corporate communications that promote transparency, outline corrective actions, and speak empathetically are likely to resonate well with stakeholders while countering negative perceptions. Excluding irrelevant searches using the search terms report for an account level can save time while guaranteeing your ads only appear when someone searching for what your offer.
