Bad Publicity Can Harm Your Business, Especially Online
You have probably already heard one of the strongest myths in the business world, that there is no such thing as bad publicity. This cliche has been said so many times that a lot of people believe it to be fact. All you need, they claim, is for people to be talking about your business. It doesn’t matter what they’re saying. It can all help you.
But the fact of the matter is that publicity can certainly be bad, and it can do a lot of harm to your business. You need to know how to avoid it and what you should do if you find yourself in this position.
Going Viral, Getting Canceled
In the internet era, publicity is different than it has been before. Information travels so quickly. It’s much easier for something to “go viral” and have a lasting impact on your company’s image. When done well, this can certainly give your company a boost.
Unfortunately, it’s easier for negative information to go viral than for positive information. For instance, if you post something you regret on your social media account, it could get a lot of backlash. That post could be shared thousands of times, and it could all happen while you’re working, sleeping, traveling — no matter what you’re doing, you may not be monitoring your social media account every second. But that will quickly spread, and you can never truly delete it. All it takes is one screenshot and your post will live on forever.
This often leads to businesses being “canceled” or boycotted by the general public. People who have never heard of your company may read one negative review and form an opinion that they will never buy from you. They may leave more negative reviews. They may help spread the post and the (negative) awareness that goes along with it. All of this can happen in days or even hours.
This type of publicity does get more people talking about your company. But it’s not going to lead to an increase in sales if the talk is all negative. You could have worked hard at your company for years, building up your reputation, and you could see all of that work erased in days, ignited by a single post on social media.
What Can You Do?
The first thing to consider here is just how important it is for you to have excellent content. Everything from your online site content to your social media posts must be crafted carefully to avoid negative ramifications.
Beyond that, if you’re already facing poor press and it is hindering your company, you need to know more about online reputation management options. We do all of this and more here at Content Customs, so get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to help.