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5 Tips for Digital Reputation Management

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To quote Warren Buffett, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” I might change that quote to say, “…and in the world of social media, it takes seconds to ruin it.” Thus, here are my five tips to help you (or your brand) avoid ruination and keep your reputation with digital reputation management.

  1. Be Prepared – Many brands may already have a social media policy, but few have a crisis policy with social media baked into it. When asked how they’d respond in the event of an emergency, they tell us about their protocol – a time line for who will write and review the press release, what to review past the legal team and when, etc. Get real! If there’s an actual emergency, it’ll erupt on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook in a fast minute. You won’t have time to write a press release and get your lawyer to respond. Emergencies and crisis travel at the speed of a tweet and in 140 characters or less. The public wants answers now and not in the form of a press release. Spend the time to identify some potential crisis scenarios and think about how you’ll respond on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and your blog.
  2. Monitor – How can you respond if you don’t know what people are saying? Expensive online listening tools like Radian 6 and Sysomos exist, but why spend the money and time to learn them when there are great free options available? Anything from Twitter and Facebook Insights or even Google Alerts to true listening platforms like Tagboard, Hashtagify.me, Topsy, or SocialMention can all work just as well! Pick what’s right for you and your brand. At Everywhere, we use some of the free available tools, but we’re also big fans of NUVI*, a new online listening tool that scales your monthly fee by the number of monthly mentions your brand(s) gets.
  3. Be Transparent – Say what you know and also say what you don’t know as quickly as possible. Transparency fosters confidence in your brand even if you are in a sticky situation. It’s okay to send a vague tweet, which says, “We are aware of [the emergency] and will provide all details as soon as we have them.” It shows you are communicative even if you don’t have all the answers!
  4. Respond Thoughtfully – The best way to completely enrage your customer is to not talk to them! 1 in 3 people who received a reply to a negative online review turned around and posted a positive review in return (1). Here are the 4 C’s for Response that I like to follow:
    1. Control - By facing accusations or updating on the situation immediately, you get to control the message. The longer you’re silent, the less control you have and the more likely the situation is to spiral out of control… especially since we’re in the days where “Trending Topics” is more about what others are saying.
    2. Compassion - Show sympathy for the situation at hand and how it affects your customers. Making them think you care will help foster a positive relationship even if they’re unhappy.
    3. Commitment - Tell your consumers that you are here for them and you’re working as hard as possible to get things done, even if it’s just via a tweet. Reiterating this throughout the situation will help their peace of mind.
    4. Communication - I repeat,, silence is the best way to enrage. Open communication fosters good will and trust among your followers. If you have the (wo)man power to do so, individually reply to all or most messages of concern – not only will that show your communication skills are on point, but it’ll also hit home on another of the 4 C’s – Compassion.
  5. Safety First – Create posting moderation guidelines for your platforms and put them in public areas of your pages (i.e., your About section). It’ll set the stage for the types of posts you’ll accept on your page. While you can’t remove whatever you want, you can protect your brand against content that is threatening, defamatory or inappropriate. Deleting a negative comment or review should not be a part of this plan!

These are my five tips that I share with clients. Are there any I’ve forgotten or should add?

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*If you’re curious about NUVI, contact Taylor Brown at taylor@nuvi.com. Full disclosure: I’ll get a referral fee if you tell him I sent you. 😉

 

Reference (1): http://www.forbes.com/sites/ekaterinawalter/2013/11/12/10-tips-for-reputation-and-crisis-management-in-the-digital-world/

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Vine: Will Instagram Kill the Video Star?

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By Meredith Lorch

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Photo Credit: Gizmodo

All the foodie photos and selfie snapshots on your Instagram feed are about to be brought to life. Vine has largely dominated the video-sharing world in recent months, but Instagram has just added video features to its iPhone and Android apps, creating quite the buzz. The question is clear: does Video on Instagram mean the downfall of Vine?

Only time will tell whether Video on Instagram will outcompete its rival. Some continue to see real potential in Vine. Gary Vaynerchuk, a brand consultant and industry thought leader, is even creating a talent agency for Vine stars, called “Grape Story.” Despite this, it’s hard to believe that Vine will amount to anything more than a fad. While its novel six-second looping video format is initially charming, Vine’s brief, repetitive nature quickly becomes overwhelming. Add in the effect of camera shake and erratic Vines can be dizzying.

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Photo Credit: Tech Crunch

Both Vine and Video on Instagram employ a simple tap-and-hold-to-record feature, but Vine fails to capitalize on post-production features. The beauty of Instagram lies in the 13 brand new filters created exclusively for video—not to mention an image-stabilization tool called Cinema for capturing crisp, shake-free video. Users can also browse Instagram videos on a website—unlike Vine, which solely allows for video exploration within the app. Overall, Instagram’s new 15-second video capability allows users to share the adventure and splendor of their worlds unlike ever before, posing a serious threat to competitors.

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Photo Credit: ABC News

So what’s on the horizon? Rumor has it Instagram has potential for Google Glass integration. The possibilities are seemingly endless. With its latest update, Instagram has solidified its place as a classic sharing tool that is here to stay—and not just for the foodies.

Everywhere has a robust internship program and we invite our interns to participate by writing on our blog. Meredith Lorch is an intern from Emory University. She authored this blog post.

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Keep it ‘Pinteresting’: Secret to Pinterest

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By Leighanne Ferri

I’m sure many can relate when I say that after spending an hour (or five) on Pinterest, I often feel a strong urge to work out, bake, craft or shop. On our personal Pinterest pages, we pin things that apply to our own interests, lifestyles and hobbies.

On the consumer side, we want to see things we are interested in from the people, and companies, we follow. We want ideas on how to put an outfit together, how to bake the perfect birthday cake or plan the ideal vacation. Brands can, and should, use this to their advantage. In order to create advocates for your brand, you must actively engage your consumers. After reading up on some creative ways of how brands are using Pinterest, I’ve come up with a few of my own.

Promote your Brand’s Lifestyle

Free People, a popular boho-chic fashion brand does an impeccable job promoting not just their brand, but the lifestyle they represent. The Free People woman is free-spirited and in tune with her mind, body and soul. One of their boards entitled ‘FP Movement’ boasts gorgeous photos of women in yoga poses, inspirational quotes, health tips and beautiful photography. The ‘Festival Fashion’ board highlights style trends from booming music festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo. This is all a part of the FP lifestyle, and thus, the FP brand.

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Image courtesy of styleblazer.com

Limit the Clutter

The next thing a brand should do is limit the clutter. As a consumer, I want to hop on a company’s Pinterest page and immediately see boards that stand out to me and push me to explore further. Although Walmart is a huge, well-known company, they have 80+ boards that seem repetitive to the buyer. A good example of pinning brevity is the Nike Women page, which has 10 concise boards with relevant content that supports current campaigns, as well as workout graphics and motivation pins.

Be Relatable and Relevant

The Whole Foods shopper is typically a health-conscious individual who appreciates being kept up-to-date with current health trends. Whole Foods Market does a fabulous job relating to its consumers and staying relevant. Their ‘#HealthYeah’ board provides an enthusiastic outlook on getting healthy while tying in the trendy use of the hashtag. Boards labeled ‘Summer Vacation!’ and ‘Savor Summer’ are seasonal and valuable to the follower.

Stay consistent (if it makes sense)

For brands that have a distinct voice or social media presence (like us), it is recommended to carry that presence into your Pinterest boards. Take our example. Everywhere brands its boards by remaining consistent, with titles including ‘Everyday Everywhere’, ‘Infographics Everywhere’ and ‘Events Everywhere’. Notice a pattern? Consistency makes your brand easily recognizable and accessible. This example aside, some companies may benefit from changing up their boards to appeal to different consumers; it’s all about what works for your brand.

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Image courtesy of hongkiat.com

As a Pinterest fanatic, I can vouch for most consumers when I say that utilizing these methods to keep your brand’s Pinterest page up to par would definitely appeal to me. Executing these tactics engages viewers and can immensely benefit your social media and real life presence in the mind of the consumer.


Everywhere has a robust internship program and we invite our interns to participate by writing on our blog. Leighanne Ferri is an intern from Florida State University. She authored this blog post.

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Brands Pity the Fool

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By Kelly Heisler

For many of us April Fool’s day brings back heinous flashbacks of Vaseline covered phone ear pieces and saran wrap covered toilet seats. Turns out in this digital age, pesky brothers aren’t the only ones having a laugh as brands have come out of the woodwork to show off their pranking ingenuity.

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It was truly a day of marketing chaos. Retailer, American Eagle, fooled us with the ironic Skinny, Skinny jeans, while even brand giant’s like P&G had Scope plaster its new “bacon flavored” mouthwash all over it’s Facebook page. Virgin was flying high with ads featuring glass-bottomed planes and Redbox confused and intrigued customers by announcing sales of lunchmeat from their kiosks.

Tricks were not kept strictly to products as social media platforms and search engines joined the games. Twitter introduced a no vowel option on tweets and YouTube created chaos with the announcement they were shutting down. Google, a longstanding participant in April Fool’s Day, had not one but two gags releasing both “Google Nose” and blue Gmail.

Question is, as a consumer what is the consequence of these types of interactions? When brands pull the wool over your eyes, do you find it humanizes them or does it seem like a cheap trick? Is it worth the risk of backlash to be timely?

As pressure for brands to actively respond in real time increases, we are bound to only see more brands hop on the bandwagon. Mark your calendars for next year!

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62nd Primetime Emmy Awards - Insider

Thank the Academy: Awards Season for Webshows?

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By Molly Daly

62nd Primetime Emmy Awards - InsiderAwards season is coming to a close, but there’s big news on the horizon for webshows. Here’s a quick history: back in the 90’s, cable TV shows finally became eligible for Emmy awards. In 2008, a rule change from the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences allowed shows like Netflix’s successful original series House of Cards to be nominated for Emmys and treated as equals among cable and network shows.

It looks like this could be the year for some serious competition. In a strategic move, Netflix is launching the new season of revived comedy Arrested Development in its entirety to secure its status as a contender. As it should be – 40% of Netflix users stream through their HDTVs.

Starting in September 2013, Nielsen will include streaming statistics in their ratings. This seems to be where the future is headed: 2.65 million cable subscribers cancelled service between 2008 and 2011, and roughly 1.5 million of those cancellations occurred in 2011 alone. House of Cards - Netflix

Who knows, maybe you could take home one of those little golden statues: YouTube uploads are eligible nominees for a fee of $600 - $700. “We leave it to our voting members to determine quality…the criterion for nominations and wins,” according to John Leverence, the senior vice president in charge of awards at the TV Academy, via TV Guide.

Netflix is already on top of it – in celebration of America’s new viewing habits, they’ve implemented their own awards, The Flixies. Users vote for Netflix content nominees in categories such as “Best Guilty Pleasure” and “Best Hangover Cure.”

As for Everywhere, we’re following the trend of emergin’ and convergin’ Internet and TV, and we like what we see!

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Growing Up and Getting Social: Advice on Career in Marketing

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I began my marketing career in the warm safe and stable arms of traditional media. Through a series of twists and turns I ended up at Everywhere, plum center in the middle of the SOCIAL MEDIA UNIVERSE. This vast and unknown arena has been a catalyst of growth to what had been my traditional education. I went from placing ads and collecting affidavits to the fast paced community of Twitter chats, TweetUps and Blogger Briefings. Which is how I ended up making my Blog Talk Radio Broadcast debut. I was sitting quietly tweeting my own business while Danica and Britton shared their expert advice on Ananda Leeke’s Digital Sisterhood Radio Show, when suddenly I was called upon for my two cents.

Zane Collins, the guest host of the Digital Sisterhood Radio Show asked me what advice I would give to those graduating college and beginning a career in Marketing. I answered quickly that the greatest lesson I have learned is to establish a relationship with every person you meet. Introduce yourself to every speaker, professor and classmate that is on top of their game. Pick their brains, make an impression and collect all the contact information you can. These are the connections and “ins” you will need when trying to get your foot in the door for an interview. It is what will give you the edge over the competition when it comes down to you versus another candidate.
Hindsight is 20/20 and the more I reflected over the advice I’d given the more my nugget of advice grew. I wanted to write a whole book to toss in the backseat of my DeLorean and gun it back to May of 2006. Being a natural born rebel after college I often snubbed my nose at the conventional (albeit true) wisdom that was handed down to me. Had I been able to get something through my thick stubborn brain it would be:
  • Volunteer for things that terrify you. It is only possible to grow when pushed out of your comfort zone. It will help you achieve more than you ever hoped.
  • It is only when you stop caring about what people think that you stop being nervous. It doesn’t happen overnight and it takes a lot of practice, but remind yourself of this everyday and it will help conquer your nerves.
  • Trust your instincts. Following your gut is an easy way to ensure you can live with your decisions.
  • Have humility, it will take you far.
  • Realize that every person you encounter (whether they seem important or not) may one day be a future colleague, boss, client or networking resource. Don’t burn your bridges.

The work landscape today has changed drastically in the five years since I graduated, but my final piece of advice is to be open to evolving. There is an entirely new way to share your message and connect, and that’s through social media. Be open to exploring new platforms, join the conversation that is connecting people all around you. Join a Twitter Chat or listen to a Blog Talk Radio show. You never know, you may be asked to give some guidance!