How to protect a business from bad publicity 

You know what they say about publicity? The whole “All publicity is good publicity” notion? Well I beg to differ. There is bad publicity and if you are not careful, it can tear down a business you took years to establish. In this internet age, all it takes is for one unsatisfied customer to go online and rant about their displeasure with your business. Whether it is on Facebook, Yelp or any other social media platform, that post could pick up steam, go viral and before you know it, the entire web would be talking about it. Now, if you run a business, the last thing you need is having people associate your business with bad products or services. That is why it's important to address any form of bad publicity before it becomes widespread. In this article this, I will show you some effective ways of dealing with bad publicity. So let's get to it.

Build your brand reputation in advance
First off, it is important that you build the reputation of your brand in advance. Ensure that you establish your business and create a strong online presence first before anything else. First impression matters and you do not want the first thing people learn about your brand to be something negative. People tend to associate things with the first thing they know about it. So build your brand, make sure you are visible on search engines and stay active on social media. 

 

 

Find out what customers think of your business
Next, find out what your customers and other people are saying about your business. Yelp is a popular customer review website, so go on Yelp, search for your business and read the reviews from your customers to know what they think of your business. You can also google your business to read reviews from blogs and other websites. When people are looking for information about your business, a lot of them will likely use Google to find helpful reviews. The type of reviews they find will greatly influence their decision to either patronize your business or not. So you really should be proactive and make sure that you're clear on what's being said out there in regards to your business. 

Build up on good customer reviews
It is vital to build up your own arsenal of good customer reviews. Most customers will not just leave reviews on their own so you have to actively solicit for it. Seek out your customers that are satisfied and ask them to rate your business and leave comments about how much they enjoyed your services. You should also encourage them to drop feedback on social media and business review sites as well. Good customer reviews are essential because they can help to cushion the effects of the negative reviews from unhappy customers. That way, when people search for your business online, they will be met with more positive reviews than bad ones. 

 
Address negative reviews online
If an unsatisfied customer goes on social media to rant about their displeasure with your product or service, instead of trying to shut it down or ignore it, I recommend that you address the issue as promptly as possible before it escalates. You can get in touch with them directly to devise the best way of resolving the issue. It is important to acknowledge their complaints and regardless of who is really at fault, you should find a way to make it right. Negative reviews can be damaging to the reputation of your business but if your customers feel like you are putting in effort to address their concerns, it can go a long way in giving your business a boost. 

Conclusion
Handling bad publicity is really just a matter of knowing what to do when it happens. Establish your brand and create a strong social media presence. Stay abreast of what's being said about you online and try you best to always address the concerns of your customers immediately they are reported. Overall, bad publicity can be difficult to manage which is why it is important to keep your customers satisfied and happy so that in the event that you have a negative review, you can bank on the multitude of good reviews from happy customers to keep your ratings high.

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