6 ways to protect your corporate reputation on social media

Executives at the Senior Corporate Communication Management Conference in New York echoed this sentiment when they discussed social media and corporate reputation, and how to embrace the new reality of immediate communications.

When you consider the sheer volume of earned media or word of mouth on the Internet everyday, it is clear that large companies—who have been in the driver’s seat when it comes to their reputations—can no longer control messaging.

How can companies avoid reputation bashing on the social Web? They should keep communications open and respond quickly.

Marcus Molina, SVP of Latin American communications for MasterCard, shared these classic examples of corporate crises and advice on how manage them effectively:

Dell

In 2005, Dell computer owners experienced problems with the company’s formerly excellent customer service. Jeff Jarvis, a Dell customer, went to war with Dell on his blog, BuzzMachine. Jarvis’ campaign brought the power of blogs to international attention, but it’s important to keep in mind that, as Market Sentinal pointed out, corporate reputations are damaged not by bloggers, but by corporate missteps.