How the modern- day consumer intreracts with the Internet has changed the public relations arena forever. To survive you need to be cloued up on what this means. In this chapter,  we wilp see how WebPR, Online Reputation Management and social media can strengthen your company's presence, build your brand online and drive trafic to your website.


Online Conversations are happening all around:
Online Conversation are taking place every day in the form of consumer generated media (CGM). This Internet content is constantly evolving, sparking new ideas and inspiring people although public relations have traditionally focused on the media as written by journalists,  the most trusted sources for morden consumers are ordinary people reporting their experiences. 

The use of social media ( blogs, fourms, facebook, twitter,etc) has provided the consumer with a voice that easily reaches other Internet users and elicits their responses a voice that allows them to contribute to the already noisy conversations around them.

Companies need to both listen and respond to this growing conversation. Coming up, we will be looking at methods to monitor your brand on the Net, to attract the attention of consumers and to monitor their responses without overstepping the mark. Remember- people like to be listened to, they hate to be slienced.

First the Listening:Online Reputation Management:
The days of letters being written by disgruntled customers expressing their disappointment are long gone. Brands,these days,often don't  even know that their customers are disappointed. Is it beacuse they're not expressing their feelings? Not by a long shot ! Consumer are expressing their views more than ever, they're jist doing so via a different channel they have moved online smart brands are watching consumer generated content and listening to what their customers are saying. 


Web2.0 and Consumer Generated Media:

The Internet is increasingly populated by content generated by consumers themselves in the form of blogs and fourms. This shift in the way people Interact with the Internet and the control they have over its content contributes to the phenomenon known as Web2.0. 
If you are successful at getting your message and your product out there, people will start talking about you. Microsoft has declared that blogging has done more for the company's image than its entire marketing spemds.
Inva survey by Forrester Research, 25% of consumer respondents said they trusted the opinions of fellow consumers above all other forms of media refferal or advertising.  News travels fast. Blogs and forums encourage responses from readers,  which are posted instantaneously. Positive and negative opinions can be confirmed and passed on by  fellow consumers within hours.


How Online Reputation Management Works:
Online Reputation Management (ORM)  is a vital component of any PR strategy beacuse people talk about your company online the good and the bad! This can make or break your business. 
Keeping your finger on the pluse of what is being said by putting the relevant damage control strategies in place and capitalizing on positive comments is imperative for the survival of any business in today's hyper connected world.
ORM involves monitoring the internet for the conversations about your brand and even your competitors brands. This is necessary beacuse while it's impossible to control the conversation you can influence it if you are already a part of it.
In market you will find vairous ORM tools available that comprehensively gathers online mentions of a company and channels them to dedicated team to measure the relevance,  credibility and impact of each mention. A company's ORM allows you to identify strengths and weaknesses in your offering both against each other against competing business lines.
By gaining awareness of brand attacks and service problems in real time, you are positioned to respond. By identifying groups of customers who have had the same complaint and indicating that the problem is being addressed, ORM can stop a potential hemorrhage of customers. 







10 Rules to Recover from an Online Brand Attack:


(1)  Humility: 


Before you can recover from an online brand attack you have to be aware that your brand can be attacked no matter how big it is or how untouchable it may seem.

(2)  Listen:


 Once you have a clear understanding of the scope of the possible effects of an Online attack and are committed to maintaining a good reputation online, you're half way there. Next you've got to understand how the process of consumer complaints has evolved.

(3)  Act immediately!: 


One of the easiest ways to solve the majority of brand attacks is to respond quickly. A brand that shows it is listening and does indeeed care will go far when it comes to ensuring a solid online reputation.  A conscious reaction is the only way forward- acknowledging what has been said and reacting accordingly. 

(4)  If what they're saying is false: 


If the mention of your brand is factually incorrect,in a friendly tone, send the blogger (90% of the time it will be a blogger) evidence that they are wrong, ask for removal or retraction of the entry, offer to keep them informed of future news, and only if no action is taken by the blog author then add a comment. 

(5)  If what they're saying us true:


 If it is ture, learn from the "Dell Hell" phenomenon. If the mention is negative but ture then send your side of the story and try as hard as you can to take it offline. 

(6)  Keep the negative pages out of the search engines:


 keeping more people from reading negative things about your brand is imperative. What you can do is knock them off the first page of the results with basic SEO topped with some social media page setups such as Squidoo and MySpace or forimposts to mention a few. keep adding pages and links until you've forced the offending pages out of sight.

(7)  Maintain Communication  :


 If you aren't  an active member of the online community it tends to be a little harder to recover from an online attack. If your company doesn't have a blog start one. Participate in industry fourms and chat rooms. Build genuine credibility as a member of these conversations and you'll find that people will have more respect for you and your brand.

(8)  Engage in the conversation: 


Keep your brand in the face of consumers by engaging in the conversation.  This could be done by making use of blogs, communicating with customers and being as open and honest as possible. 

(9)  Care :


 If you truly care what your customers think then most of this will come naturally. That's all people want. They give you their money, they just want some good service and respect in return. 

(10)  Be prepared: 


No brand is immune from an online brand attack. The best brands have strategies in place to immediately identify a reputation crisis and respond to it quickly enough to stop the negative word of mouth spreading.