While blogging gets a lot of positive press these days, it also has a dark side. There are bloggers out there who can be mean-spirited, uninformed, and partisan cyber-thugs who attack your company for no apparent reason.
The resulting online flames can singe employee morale and burn your company’s reputation. Unless, of course, you have an effective response that can neutralize these self-appointed critics.
But partisan? Yes, almost always. That's the whole point of blogging. You've thrown off the shackles of objectivity that defined more traditional forms of journalism and you’re writing from your own perspective as a blogger.
"Don’t overreact," says Paul Argenti, a professor of corporate communication at Dartmouth’s school of business. "Don't get angry or become unprofessional. And don't take it personally."
Here are eight tips for fending off angry bloggers.
1. Monitor blog activity about your company. If you don't know what they're saying about your company, how can you defend yourself? The sooner you know that something negative is making the rounds, the sooner you can address it.
There are several services that can help, including eWatch (a service of PR Newswire) which tracks online media coverage, portals, and public discussion areas. Another service, Webclipping.com, provides special watch reports from Web-based publications, Usenet groups, and newswires. And Google's News Alerts can e-mail you when your company and products appear on someone else's Web page.
2. Know that nothing on the Web "just goes away." "The biggest mistake small-business owners make is thinking that eventually a negative comment will go away," says Cord Silverstein, senior vice president at marketing communications firm Capstrat. "What they do not realize is that the Web never forgets. No matter how long ago a negative comment was placed online, it will be stored by the search engines and will be … found by your potential customers."
I archive all of my blog postings, and just had someone ask me to remove an unflattering post—from 1998. (I didn't delete it, but I agreed to update it.)
3. Respond as soon as you can when a blogger goes on the offensive. That's the advice of New York-based Victoria Grantham of the marketing firm Rose Communications. "Respond in a timely fashion with relevant information," she says. You have two choices: Make a statement in the forum in which the original criticism was posted (for example, leaving a comment on a blog), or publish something to your own Web site.
I'll have more on the second option in a moment. But first let me share my own experience with the immediate-comment response strategy. Some months ago, a blogger for a prominent magazine attacked one of my articles. It was clear that the author hadn't taken the time to read past the first paragraph of my article. So I posted an invitation to him—and his readers—to have a look at the whole story by republishing the entire article on his blog as a comment. That effectively neutralized the criticism; the blogger hasn't attacked me since then.
4. Rebut with a strategic post of your own. Often, the most effective response to an attack is to post a rebuttal to your own blog. If you don't have your own blog, consider starting one. (See these tips for getting started.) Bloggers pay attention to other bloggers, and a counter post is far likelier to be effective than a polite statement made on your company Web site.
"There is nothing wrong with responding to negative blog posts in a matter-of-fact way," says Claire Celsi, an account supervisor at The Integer Group, a Lakewood, Colo.-based public relations firm. "Fact-check and fact-correct. Also, be transparent, and never disguise your identity when blogging or responding to a post."
5. Ask your friends for help. Develop a social network consisting of your clients, employees, and stakeholders on your company Web site (you can outsource it to a social-networking service such as Ning.com, and it won’t cost you a dime). That's what Chris Yoko, managing director of the advertising and public relations agency FaceTime Strategy, based in Washington, D.C., recommends. These loyal customers are likely to be the first to go on the counter-offensive on your behalf. And in the end, that can be far more effective than a solo effort to defend your reputation.
I've experienced the power of a social network, and what it can do to help you in the event of a blog attack, on many occasions. In my other life as a commentator, I’ve gotten myself into hot water lots of times. Were it not for the readers of my blog and e-mail newsletter who came to my rescue, I might not be here today.
6. Don't go for a perfect score. If you try to respond to every negative comment about your company, you'll slowly drive yourself mad. "Complainers existed before blogging," says Paul Travis, a strategic marketing consultant and partner for OneAccord, a Bellevue, Wash.-based marketing firm. "And they'll exist after blogging." Rather than trying to counter every argument made online, Travis recommends spending your energies only on the important ones—and the rest on running your company.
Your best bet is to focus on the legitimate criticisms leveled against your organization by A-list bloggers that have a large following. Let the B-listers and wannabes say what they want, and chalk it off to "any publicity is good publicity."
7. Call in the pros, if necessary. John Pearce, a professor of strategic management and entrepreneurship at the Villanova School of Business, says calling in the cavalry may be necessary if your business is being seriously harmed by a blog attack. Companies such as International Reputation Management, Naymz, or Reputation Defender, can help. "For a fee of $10,000 or so, these companies undertake to reshape a small business's online image," he says.
8. Protect your company against future attacks. You can do that by getting to know the bloggers who have ganged up on your company and—are you still sitting down?—befriending them. "Build a relationship," says Peter Hershberg, a managing partner for Reprise Media, a New York-based search engine optimization firm. Leave comments on their blog, respond to their posts by e-mail, be visible on online review sites such as Yelp.com or GetSatisfaction.com, and make yourself accessible to them. You'd be surprised at how responsive bloggers will be to your efforts.
Don't sit there helplessly while bloggers destroy your business. By paying close attention to what's being said about you, responding quickly with a polite and professional rebuttal, and using all the tools at your disposal, you can successfully repel a blog assault. As someone who’s been on both sides—as the critic and the criticized—I can tell you that you can survive an all-out blog attack.