eMarketer reports that most brands are concerned that online consumers will post negative comments about them, especially on social media where opinions can be broadcast far and wide. In their “Social Media and Online PR Report,” Econsultancy and bigmouthmedia explored ways marketers can combat brand bashing.
Asked what their company had done to minimize negative comments in the past, nearly one-half of the respondents reported having directly engaged with the consumer. The second-most-common strategy was longer-term in focus: trying to improve products and services.
A few respondents had tried to get offending content removed, but that tactic can backfire and cause further negative remarks against the brand. Econsultancy noted that only 12% of companies tried to create their own content to offset negative consumer opinions in search results, and that more could go this route.
