Greg Jarboe's presentation during a Simplilearn webinar on January 12, 2016, on dealing with online reputation threats.

1. Content Marketing: Dealing with
Online Reputation Threats
Greg Jarboe
Content Marketing Faculty Chair
Market Motive

2. Best practices for crisis communications and
responding to critical social media posts
 Whether it’s a nasty viral customer
service debacle or an irresponsible
tweet from an intern, every business
should be prepared for threats to their
online reputation.
 In fact, in the next five years, 83% of
public companies will face an online
reputation crisis that could impact
share prices up to 30%.
 So, here’s your action plan: Learn the
best practices for crisis
communications and responding to
those embarrassing social media posts.

3. The majority of crises you will face can be
categorized as operational or reputational
 Operational crises create an actual or
potential disruption to organizational
operations.
 Fires, explosions, or a chemical release
can disrupt operations in some fashion.
 Crisis management initially was created to
address operational crises.
 Reputational crises threaten to inflict
serious damage on an organization’s
reputation.
 This includes irresponsible behavior by
management or corporate messages that
offend some stakeholders.
 These will cause stakeholders to perceive
the organization much less favorably.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

4. Key difference between operational and
reputational crises is threat to public safety
 Cleary, an operational crisis will inflict
some reputational damage.
 However, reputational crises do not
impact operations in any meaningful
fashion.
 So, a key difference between the two
crises is that operational crises
typically create some threat to public
safety and/or stakeholder welfare
while reputational crises are far less
likely to produce the same level of
public safety or stakeholder welfare
concerns generated by an operational
crisis.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

5. Extensive crisis communication research has
found three major lessons we should learn
 In the U.S., crisis communication appeared
as a serious research concern in the 1980s
and interest in the topic has expanded
rapidly since that time.
 Researchers are now producing crisis
communication research at an amazing rate.
 This research has found 3 major lessons that
crisis managers should know:
1. Timing, being the first to report the crisis
is beneficial to the organization;
2. Victim focus, emphasizing the victim in
public crisis messages, and
3. Misinformation, the need to aggressively
fight inaccurate information.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

6. Managers often take the ostrich approach
to a crisis and bury their heads in the sand
 When an organization is the first to report a
crisis, it suffers less damage than if some
outside source, such as the news media, is
the first to report the crisis.
 But, being the one to report the crisis first is
counterintuitive and resisted by many
managers.
 Some managers prefer an ostrich approach
– if they don’t acknowledge the crisis no
one else will learn about it either.
 But information has a way leaking from an
organization and that leaking ability is only
enhanced through social media.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

7. Stealing thunder asks managers to take an
action most are uncomfortable performing
 Stealing thunder asks managers to take
an action most are uncomfortable with
performing.
 But, multiple studies have documented
the cause and effect relationship
between “stealing thunder” and
organizational benefits such as reducing
reputational damage and minimizing
decreases in purchase intentions created
by a crisis.
 The evidence firmly suggests that
disclosing a crisis is an effective response
because it helps to decrease the damage
an organization can suffer from the crisis.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

8. Report information about a crisis on your
company’s online communication channels
 Social media is one option an
organization can use to steal thunder.
 The immediacy of social media allows
an organization to report a crisis at any
time without having to rely upon the
traditional news media to help
facilitate the release of a story.
 In addition, stakeholders depending on
social media for news are likely to
learn about the crisis from the
organization’s social media rather than
traditional media providing another
opportunity to steal thunder.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

9. Victim focus: When a crisis produces real
victims, response must be victim-centered
 A victim can be considered to be any
stakeholder who was harmed (actual
victim) or who had the potential to be
harmed (potential victim).
 The harm can be physical, financial,
and/or psychological.
 The fact is, no matter what precautions
are taken, accidents will happen.
 When a crisis produces actual victims,
the crisis response must be victim-
centered.
 A victim-centered approach is
accommodative toward the victims.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

10. Crisis messages should emphasize victims
and how you are focused on helping them
 Your crisis messages should emphasize
the victim and how your organization is
trying to help the victims.
 During the Costa Concordia crisis,
Carnival Cruise Lines was criticized in
traditional and social media for not doing
enough to help the victims.
 We can debate if this perception is
accurate, but the perceptions dominated
media discussions of the crisis and,
therefore, became the reality for the
crisis – it was the frame most
stakeholders had for viewing the crisis.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

11. Initial crisis statements need to address
concerns about public safety and welfare
 To focus on victims, the initial crisis
statements need address concerns
about public safety and welfare.
 The public safety messages would
include details about the crisis event
and recommended courses of actions
for stakeholders to take to prevent
being harmed by the crisis.
 The public welfare messages would
include expressions of sympathy, offers
to provide assistance such as
counseling, and steps taken to prevent
a repeat of the crisis.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

12. An aggressive approach is preferable to a
passive approach for crisis communication
 An aggressive communication approach
is preferable to a passive approach for
crisis communication.
 An aggressive approach means that the
organization actively communicates with
stakeholders about the crisis.
 In the passive approach, the organization
sends out very few messages about the
crisis.
 Stock prices and reputations rebound
faster and stronger from the aggressive
communication approach than from a
passive communication approach.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

13. Misinformation: You must fight inaccurate
or untrue information (rumors) aggressively
 Respond aggressively to misinformation
crises.
 Especially in the digital environment,
misinformation can spread and be accepted
as fact.
 You must act quickly to debunk and to deny
the misinformation.
 Explain what the actual situation is and
provide evidence to support your position.
 For example, Proctor and Gamble
aggressively denied that its product Febreze
was dangerous for dogs and cats.
 The company web site debunked the rumor
and had testimony from a number of expert
third party sources to support their claims.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

14. Consistent results remove the fear that the
research findings were just some anomaly
 If possible, release information about a crisis before it is reported in tradition or digital media.
 Report information about a crisis on your online communication channels. Stakeholders
depending on social media for news are likely to learn about the crisis from your social media
rather than traditional media, providing another opportunity to steal thunder.
 Whenever there are victims or potential victims, immediately tell people how to protect
themselves physically from the crisis.
 Whenever there are victims or potential victims, immediately provide people with information
and actions designed to help them cope psychologically with the crisis. This would include details
about the crisis event, expressions of sympathy, corrective action, and counseling.
 Organizations recover their reputations and stock prices quicker when they communicate
aggressively (frequently and through many channels) than when they communicate passively.
 Denial should only be used when an organization faces a rumor or misinformation about the
crisis.
Source: Dr. W. Timothy Coombs, University of Central Florida, “State of Crisis Communication: Evidence and the Bleeding Edge,” Sept. 22, 2014

15. Attacks on your brand arrive at lightning
speed, so start building a war room today
 In many cases, an online reputation
management campaign can take months
to complete.
 Addressing underlying issues and
replacing negative content with more
favorable pages takes time.
 But by being prepared ahead of time for
an online reputation management crisis,
you can cut down that time considerably,
and get more immediate results.
 But what if news results and an image
from a few hours ago suddenly appear in
Google universal search results?
Source: Greg Jarboe, Search Engine Watch, “Online Reputation Management Requires Cabinet War Rooms,” Mar. 11, 2008

16. 330,000 communicators with war rooms
know how to respond to brand attacks
 Capt. David Faggard, Chief of Emerging
Technology at the Air Force Public Affairs
Agency, says the Air Force employs
330,000 communicators!
 Their mission is to use current and
developing Web 2.0 applications to
actively engage in conversations with the
general public.
 That’s right, their goal is to make every
single Airman an on-line communicator.
 You might find their “rules of
engagement” useful when developing
your own strategy, policy and plans.
Source: David Meerman Scott, Web Ink Now, “The US Air Force: Armed with social media,” Dec. 15, 2008

17. Interest in online reputation management
surged from October 2012 to June 2013
Source: Google Trends, United States, Dec. 3, 2015

18. Google’s Panda and Penguin updates
altered threats to online reputation
 The “Panda” update, which hit on Feb.
23, 2011, was aimed at helping people
find “high-quality” sites by reducing the
rankings of “low-quality” content.
 The “Penguin” update, which was
announced on April 24, 2012, helped
“White Hat” SEO and penalized “Black
Hat” webspam techniques, from keyword
stuffing to link schemes.
 Google announced Panda #20 on Sept.
27, 2012, Penguin #3 on Oct. 5.
 Google unveiled Penguin #4 on May 22,
2013, and the Panda Dance on June 11.
Source: Moz, “Google Algorithm Change History”

19. What are best practices for responding to
embarrassing videos, photos, or blog posts?
 Does the content that most searchers will
see truly threaten your reputation?
 Are there enough monthly searches for
the term to really matter?
 Following the “Panda” algorithm change,
what kind of content do you need to
“push down” other sites in Google’s
search results?
 Following the “Penguin” algorithm
change, what is the best way to get other
sites to create high-quality, relevant links
to yours?
 Is hiring a firm that specializes in online
reputation management actually your
best option these days?

20. Search on a computer for white water
rafting accidents and you’ll see two videos
 A YouTube video entitled, “DEADLY
White Water Rafting Accident,” ranks
#1.
 Another YouTube video entitled, “dont
watch this horrible whitewater rafting
accident,” ranks #2.
 American Whitewater safety content
ranks #3.
 Tourism New Zealand article by Brian
Megaw, River Valley Rafting ranks #4.
 Howcast video and post ranks #5.
Source: Google search engine result page, Dec. 1, 2015

21. Search on a smartphone for white water
rafting accidents and you’ll see one video
 More Google searches take place on
mobile devices than on computers in
10 countries, including the US.
 This means your customers would see
only 3 out of the 5 results in the
previous slide:
 A YouTube video entitled, “DEADLY
White Water Rafting Accident,” ranks
#1.
 American Whitewater safety content
ranks #2.
 Tourism New Zealand article by Brian
Megaw, River Valley Rafting ranks #3.
Source: Google mobile search engine result page, Dec. 1, 2015

22. “DEADLY White Water Rafting Accident” has
over 85,000 views, but just 69 engagements
 Published on Dec. 24, 2013, this video
by Bigtizzle07%2Buser features a so-
called white water rafting “accident”
on the Tully River in Cairns, Australia.
 The narrator sounds like a Brazilian
football commentator as the raft
capsizes throwing all the members of
the crew into the rapids.
 The crew then get to “enjoy” the hard
ride on the way down, but no one gets
hurt and the accident isn’t “deadly.”
 The video on the testing485 channel is
filed in the Travel & Events category.
Source: https://youtu.be/2-1MNxfX5Bc

23. “dont watch this horrible whitewater rafting
accident” has 139K views, 885 engagements
 Uploaded on Sept. 14, 2010, this video
by Zack Yutzey invites viewers to check
out the Ace Adventure Resort to “take
part in this kind of fun!”
 The video’s description also invites
viewers to like DiSgUsTiNgLy tASty
ViDe0 (D.T.V.) on Facebook, follow
theyutzinator on Twitter, subscribe to
the D.T.V. channel on YouTube, and like
the video to help “D.T.V. nation grow!”
 It’s worth noting that nothing
“horrible” happens in this video filed
in the Comedy category.
Source: https://youtu.be/bNGldPjMYHc

24. Queries for white water rafting accidents
range from 10 in December to 320 in July
Source: Google AdWords Keyword Planner, Dec. 1, 2015

25. What kind of content will “push down”
other sites in Google’s search results?
 Would you trust the information
presented in this article?
 Is this article written by an expert or
enthusiast who knows the topic well, or
is it more shallow in nature?
 Does the article provide original content
or information, original reporting,
original research, or original analysis?
 Does the page provide substantial value
when compared to other pages in search
results?
 Does the article describe both sides of a
story?
 Is the site a recognized authority on its
topic?
 Was the article edited well, or does it
appear sloppy or hastily produced?
 Does this article provide a complete or
comprehensive description of the topic?
 Does this article contain insightful
analysis or interesting information that
is beyond obvious?
 Is this the sort of page you’d want to
bookmark, share with a friend, or
recommend?
 Would you expect to see this article in a
printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
 Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or
otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
Source: Amit Singhal, Google Webmaster Central Blog, “More guidance on building high-quality sites,” May 6, 2011

26. What is the best way to get other sites to
create high-quality, relevant links to yours?
 Google’s quality guidelines say, avoid
participating in “link schemes.”
 Google adds, “The best way to get other
sites to create high-quality, relevant links
to yours is to create unique, relevant
content that can naturally gain popularity
in the Internet community.
 “Creating good content pays off: Links
are usually editorial votes given by
choice, and the more useful content you
have, the greater the chances someone
else will find that content valuable to
their readers and link to it.”
Source: Google quality guidelines, Link schemes

27. More search interest in content marketing
than in online reputation management
Source: Google Trends, United States, Dec. 3, 2015

28. Dealing successfully with online reputation
threats means following Google’s guidelines

29. Thank You