How to manage online brand hate
As Taylor Swift would advise, sometimes it’s best to simply shake it off. Other times, you’ll have to act.
While I’m certain she wasn’t pondering online reputation management, Taylor Swift had it right when she sang “the haters gonna hate, hate, hate” in her hit single, “Shake it Off.” Online hate remains a major problem for businesses, and sadly, we can’t always just take the pop starlet’s advice and roll with it.
Hate blogs and hate websites can pop up overnight, and if written by clever authors, can quickly rise to the top of search results. Reputational and economic damage frequently follow.
When confronted with negative online content that hinders your business or damages your organization’s reputation, the best advice is to remain calm and make a sound assessment. While the first reaction may be to blast away at the hate blog, defamatory post, negative news article or nasty review, brand managers have found that it makes more sense to slow down and develop a strategy before confronting the sourc, assuming you can figure out who posted the negative information in the first place.
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