Reputation Management
A Closer Look At Blogs
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Some of our clients have serious issues…
global warming, pollution, genetically modified foods, equal pay,
labor rights, corporate misconduct, predatory lending, medical
malpractice reform, death penalty reform, right to die, gay
marriage, abortion, illegal immigration, stem cell research, school
choice, foster care reform, child poverty, wilderness protection,
energy policy, biotechnology, youth voting, public health, Iraq war,
privacy rights, AIDS, social security, animal born disease, civil
rights, separation of church and state, community development,
affordable housing, youth violence, teen pregnancy, homelessness,
microenterprise development, higher education reform, disaster
relief, poverty relief, family planning, violence against women,
racial profiling, welfare reform, campaign finance reform…
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Reputation Management: A Closer Look at Blogs
• Blog Basics
• Why Blogs are important in Reputation Management
• Monitoring Blogs
• Effective Engagement in the Blogosphere
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Blog Basics
Technotati tracks 57
million Blogs (October
2006)
1.3 million posts per day
39% of Internet Users
(57 million American
Adults) report reading
Blogs
Sources: EMarketer, Business of
Blogging 2006; Pew Internet &
American Life, 2006 Blogging Survey;
Technorati 2006
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Blog Basics
• 77% think Blogs are a good way to get information about a company or
product
• 33% of Journalists say they use Blogs to uncover breaking news or scandals
• Blogs account for 26% of SE rankings on Fortune 500 Company/Brand names
• Blogs appeared in News Search SERPS on 7 of the top 10 Fortune 100
companies; Feb 2006
• Bloggers most trusted source of information about companies/products:
OTHER BLOGGERS (62.8%)
Sources: ComScore, BBC Report, Euro RSGC Magnet Survey, Jupiter Media, RB Search on Google News Feb 23 rd, 2006; Emarketer, Business of Blogging 2006
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Why are Blogs such an important form of
Consumer Generated Media?
Source: Nielsen Buzz Metrics
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Search Engines give Blogs an inflated
“Share of Voice”
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Blogs are highly visible across multiple Search channels
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Blogs dominate SERPs on“Brand + [negative keyword]”
searches
•Citing norms
•Linking
•Tagging
•Fast Indexing
…8 of 10 top
listings on “Dell
Hell”
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Blogs are the source of long term,
consistent voices
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Jeff Jarvis & Dell Hell: July 2005 - ???
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Bloggers can develop a following
quickly (and unexpectedly)
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90% of Bloggers say their favorite thing to Blog
about is personal experience…
50% say they Blog about companies &
products
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Bloggers create CGM across multiple channels
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Dave: So many CGM opportunities, so little time
Dave:
• 2 Blogs
26% of Bloggers have 3 or more Blogs
82% post to others’ Blogs regularly
Source: Pew Internet and American Life
• 1 Family Genealogy Site
• 42 reviews (books, movies)
• 2 comments on Volokh
Conspiracy (indexed by
search engines); led to one
original post on VK
UPDATE: Dave is all over
Yahoo Answers
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And not just any CGM…
Bloggers are highly engaged in multiple forms
of social
and
media,
which is strongly viral
visible on search engines
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Bloggers and Social Interaction
• 44% of Bloggers have taken existing content (video, audio, images,
etc.), remixed it and shared online;
• 77% of Bloggers have authored original, non-text content (video,
audio, etc.) and shared online;
• Bloggers report that My Space is the #2 most preferred Blogging
platform (LiveJournal is #1);
• Bloggers link to, talk about, submit content in other Social Media
• So what?
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Bloggers are powerful viral agents for content that is
ALREADY powerfully viral…
67% of links to
recent Mel Gibson
videos are Bloggers
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Chevy Tahoe Example
• Spring 2006: Chevy launches “The Apprentice” – online
contest to create the best TV commercial for the Chevy
Tahoe
• Environmental groups seize the opportunity; ask
members and supporters to create protest commercials
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Fearing that Chevy will remove the protest ads, creators
post them on You Tube
Bloggers light the viral fire
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Journalists follow Blogs and the SM
tools that Bloggers use
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Euro RSCG Magnet Survey
• 51% of journalists use Blogs regularly
•
•
•
•
•
70% for work-related tasks
53% to find story ideas
43% to research and reference facts
36% to find sources
33% to uncover breaking news or scandals
• Bloggers feed other SM tools (Digg, etc.) that journalists
follow
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Ok, I get it. What am I supposed to do
about it?
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Step 1: Monitor/Listen
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Monitor SERPs
Top Ten Rankings Trend/Brand Name
16
• Establish a 14
baseline on key
terms
12
Positive
10
• Score each ranking
as positive,
8
negative, neutral,
NA, etc.
6
Negative
Neutral
4
changes
2
• Track
(up or down) of
individual listings
as you
0
execute your SEO strategy
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
June
• Track changes in positive,
negative, neutral visibility
overall
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Listen to Bloggers to get ahead of tomorrow’s Page 1
SERPs
Influence of Speaker
Demographics
Mentions/Speakers
Citation Trends
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• 50% of Bloggers write
about companies once
Step 2: Get Over It – Take a deep breath and
Engage.
per week
If you engage effectively, there may be fewer voices to “drown out”
• Only 21% report regular
or push down in the rankings
contact from companies
they write about; most in
the form of unsolicited
press releases
• Only 2% say they don’t
want contact
BUT….
Engagement doesn’t
conventional PR
tactics!!!
Contacting Bloggers is NOT
a sufficient
Engagement
Sources: Emarketer Business of Blogging,
2006; Edelman/Technorati Survey
strategy
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Develop a trust-based relationship with Bloggers
50% of negative word of mouth stems from a feeling of injustice!
Dell, You Just Don’t Get It
• Communicate (Talk AND Listen) regularly – the good, the bad, the
“Two
posts on Dell one to one Blog have noted that they think I
mistakes
am very pleased and satisfied that someone from Dell called
to say
they wanted
to resolve
the Dellspamming,
technical support
• me
Don’t
develop
a reputation
for shilling,
or participating in
issues
I’ve had…
any unethical
marketing practices!
…So Dell, stop saying that I am thrilled with these phone calls.
• Because,
Don’t sugar
misquote
or misrepresent
a Blogger’s
likecoat,
your don’t
blog, they
are nothing
but a PR Ploy…”
opinion
• Develop a response protocol for negative coverage!
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**Consider** Creating Blog(s)
• Don’t do it without a clear vision;
• Don’t use the Blog for spin (Dell);
• Be prepared for negative comments, negative reviews, etc. and RESPOND
• Content strategy should focus on what interests the customer, not on the
marketing message you are trying to drill into the customer’s head. Interesting
examples:
www.Nirol.com/us/blog
www.fordoutfront.com
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Engage Bloggers for feedback
• Bloggers are early adopters; consider allowing them to preview your
new product or service or to review it;
• Ask Bloggers for feedback on content you may be posting to social
media and develop a social media strategy that puts you in front of
Bloggers
• Don’t be afraid of negative coverage! If there is a problem and you fix
it, you will get kudos, positive coverage and perhaps a big fan
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Turn happy customers into Bloggers
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Encourage customer evangelists to Blog
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Final Thought
“You can put lipstick on a hog and call it
Monique…it’s still just a pig.”
Ann Richards, Former Governor of Texas
The best marketing won’t fix bad products, bad customer
service, bad business practices, etc.
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