In 2024, information online can spread quickly. If the information isn’t very positive, a reputation crisis can emerge and go viral within minutes. Whether it’s a misunderstood tweet, a product recall, or an executive scandal, the impact of a crisis on your reputation can be detrimental if not responded to quickly and effectively. 

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Without a reputation crisis management strategy in place, it may be difficult to know where to start, but it’s never too late to manage your reputation, even in a crisis.  In this article, I will define reputation management and reputation crises, explore why reputation management is vital in a crisis, and give you a place to start if you’re experiencing a PR crisis so you have a say in your own reputation. 

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What is reputation management? 

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Reputation management, often referred to as online reputation management (ORM), is the act of influencing the perception of you, your business, or your brand so that your reputation is aligned with how you want to be seen. In 2024, reputation management strategies can include PR, social media management, search engine optimization (SEO), influencer marketing, review management, and social listening. 

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For ORM to be successful, it must be ongoing, iterative, and informed by any relevant changes that could affect your reputation, from shifts in SEO best practices to developments in your particular industry.

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What is a reputation crisis? 

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A reputation crisis refers to a swift and substantial negative impact on your reputation. The momentum and impact of the crisis on your reputation can vary depending on your pre-crisis reputation, your industry, and the details of the incident.

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A reputation crisis can be brought on by:

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• Lawsuits: lawsuits can often bring unwanted negative attention to you, your business, or your brand, regardless of the legitimacy of the allegations. Depending on the nature of the lawsuit, you may experience a loss of customers, hits to your trustworthiness and credibility, or other reputation blows. What’s more, a negative lawsuit can affect your reputation even if the lawsuit is dropped, dismissed, or settled, as initial reports and news coverage may linger in search results. 
• Social Media Missteps: with over ​​5 billion people on social media, even a quickly deleted social media post can attract significant negative attention and snowball into a reputation crisis. Remember that the internet is forever, and deleting something you have posted will never guarantee that it is completely gone. 
• Data Breaches or Privacy Concerns: data breaches that expose customer information or failures to protect user privacy can severely harm customer trust. Whether it is an ongoing issue or a one-off, without a quick and effective response on your end, the damage to your reputation can be difficult to overcome.
• Negative Product Reviews: everyone gets negative reviews online; however, if your negative reviews vastly outnumber positive reviews, or if the reviews continue to bring up a concern that is not resolved, you could be at risk of losing current and prospective customers and eventually experience greater negative impacts on your reputation, as lack of response and action to ongoing customer feedback can reflect negatively on your brand and business. This can also come about as a result of misleading or false advertising, where your products or services do not align with the expectations you set for your audience. 
• Safety or Ethical Concerns: businesses that put customers or employees at risk or seem to be ethically compromised can alienate customers and harm their reputations long-term. A recent survey found that roughly 90% of consumers will remain loyal to brands that share their values, but the inverse can also be true. Issues such as unsafe workplaces, recalls of dangerous products, environmental damage, corruption within a business, etc. can all have a severe, negative impact on your reputation. 
• Employee Misconduct: scandals, lawsuits, or crimes that involve top executives or employees at your company, whether they are personal or professional, can cast a shadow over the entire organization. Depending on your company’s response, a bad situation may become worse if you do not tread carefully. Acting in line with company and customer values and enacting as much transparency as possible can help you mitigate the damage and isolate the incident from your business as a whole.

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In addition to these causes, another key factor in reputation crises is ongoing negative news coverage. Though usually a symptom rather than the cause, negative news coverage can fan the flames of a reputation crisis by increasing the story’s visibility, longevity, and impact on your search results. Ongoing news coverage in the wake of a crisis can increase the likelihood of virality, invite further scrutiny, and broaden the audience of the news cycle, further cementing the crisis as a defining aspect of your reputation.

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When is it too late to implement reputation crisis management?

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It is never too late. When it comes to mitigating the effects of a reputation crisis, the best time to implement a reputation management strategy is yesterday. But the next best time is today. The longer a reputation threat goes unaddressed, the more substantial and lasting the impact can be. Even if you are implementing a strategy in the wake of a crisis, taking action is better than allowing everything to play out.

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That said, it is vital not to allow the urgency of responding to the crisis to overshadow the effectiveness of your strategy. While it may be tempting to take immediate action, remember that any missteps in your reputation crisis management strategy can have little to no effect or even further exacerbate the situation. 

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How does strategy change with reputation crisis management?

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The primary difference between a proactive reputation management strategy and a reputation crisis management strategy is urgency. When implementing a proactive ORM strategy, you have time to establish long- and short-term goals, refine your messaging, and move at a more relaxed pace.

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When implementing a reputation crisis management strategy, or a reactive ORM strategy, time is a key factor. Reacting quickly is important, and you must balance time against the effectiveness of your strategy. In addition, you have to be conscious of the nature of your reputation crisis, and avoid any actions that could make the situation worse or draw more negative attention. 

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Put simply, proactive reputation management is about generally influencing the narrative around you,  your business, or your brand, while reactive reputation management is about reducing the impact of the crisis on your reputation long-term.   

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How to Start Reputation Management During a Crisis

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When you are going through a reputation crisis, taking more on can seem like too much to handle. But without an established reputation management strategy, the lasting impact of the crisis on your reputation can be disastrous. While every reputation crisis is different and, thus, requires a different approach, there are general steps that you can take to cushion the blow.

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1. Assess Your Reputation

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Begin with assessing the current state of your online reputation. You can’t determine a destination before understanding where you’re starting. Google your name, your business name, your brand name, and any other branded terms or terms that are otherwise relevant to you and the reputation crisis. 

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Take note of what you see. How many of the results in SERP are owned properties? How many are related to the crisis? Are they news websites, blogs, reviews, or social media posts? Where do the results rank? Make sure to look beyond the first page of Google; look at other pages, the News and Image tabs, and suggested and related search. 

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Auditing your online presence will help you understand the current impact of the crisis, the results most likely to rank prominently, and the channels you need to pay attention to. Be sure to regularly check your results. Google search is never static, and if the crisis is receiving ongoing news coverage, you’ll want to be aware of new results populating. 

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2. Identify the Reach

Once you have identified the negative results related to the crisis, you will need to determine the reach. Exact numbers could be difficult to measure, but estimates will help you understand the initial impact and help you prioritize where you should put your energy.

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Considerations that can help you determine the audience are:

• Is there any news coverage? Is the coverage local, national, or international? 
• Is the news coverage persisting, or have new articles stopped being published?
• What is the nature of the sites covering the crisis? Do they have an engaged, large audience, or do they tend to target a smaller niche audience? 
• Has the crisis gained traction on social media or forums? Is there one post or several? What does the engagement look like on these posts? 
• Are there any influencers, industry thought leaders, or other relevant public figures who are speaking about the crisis? What are their takes? How large are their audiences? 
• Are channels not related to you or your industry picking up the story? 
• Over time, are the online conversations around the crisis diminishing, or ongoing? 
• If articles, press releases, reports, or reviews are ranking in search results, where are they ranking? 

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3. Respond When Appropropriate

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When you are experiencing a reputation crisis, how you respond to the crisis can have a significant impact on the severity. While the crisis may bring negative attention to you and your business, a strong response can recontextualize the situation, help you maintain transparency, and rebuild trust with your audience.

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While every situation will require a different approach, there a certain best practices to keep in mind when formulating your response:

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• Maintain a courteous and professional tone
• Acknowledge the concerns and criticisms of your audience 
• Take accountability when relevant, and do not push off blame without being able to substantiate your claims
• Provide a solution or plan to move forward 
• Avoid any information that can reveal too much information about the situation or add further flames to the fire 

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Remember that not everything warrants a response. It can be tempting to defend yourself, particularly during a reputation crisis, but some things are better left alone. Use your judgment, consider what would help your audience, and remember your goals when it comes to protecting your reputation. 

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4. Make the Necessary Changes

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If you are experiencing a reputation crisis, it is likely that something has to change. Whether that is brand messaging, customer communication, or something more internal, be sure to make that change, particularly if you have assured your audience that you will.  

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Accountability can go a long way when it comes to recovering from a reputation crisis. How you take accountability will depend on the nature of the crisis, the legitimacy of the claims against you, and the actions you can take to remedy the situation. Whether it involves revising policies, improving products, or changing leadership, these actions will demonstrate to your audience your commitment to rectifying the situation and preventing the problem in the future. 

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While it may be an old adage, everyone makes mistakes. It is how you learn from them that shows your character. Implementing tangible changes can help restore public confidence and show stakeholders that your response goes beyond messaging.

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5. Form Your Reputation Strategy

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Of course, this advice is a bit obvious. What I mean when I say this is, once you have taken steps to address the ongoing crisis, don’t consider your work done. Everyone needs reputation management. As you weather the storm of a reputation crisis, taking the opportunity to begin building a reputation strategy can help you continue to improve and maintain your reputation as the storm of the crisis calms. 

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What’s more, some elements of reputation management that may not be directly related to crisis management can still help you in a reputation crisis. Tasks such as optimizing your social media profiles, improving your website performance, and creating high-quality, valuable on-site content for your audience can improve your online presence, which can have an impact on your search results. 

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6. Know When to Ask for Help

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During a reputation crisis, your attention will likely be pulled in several directions, and you may be operating with less bandwidth than you’re used to. If you’re completely new to reputation management, it may be too much to handle, even if you want to implement a reputation management strategy. What’s more, the urgency can cause you to make mistakes if you aren’t careful, and you may do more harm than good.

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In these cases, relying on a professional reputation management firm will be the best course of action. ORM firms like Status Labs have the experience and background knowledge to assess the situation and create customized solutions to address your particular crisis. 

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If you are experiencing a reputation crisis or would like to establish a proactive ORM strategy, reach out to Status Labs for a free consultation to learn how we can help you put your best foot forward online. 

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