PUBLIC RELATIONS
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Managing Reputation In The Era Of Social Media
By Irene Mbonge
In business , reputation matters above all else . It is often said that it takes a long time to build a good reputation , and just one instant to destroy it . And so in reality , the business of perception is core to the business .
Reputation in general is what people think about your brand – this can be an individual as a brand or a corporate . As such , building and zealously protecting the right reputation is part of every business leader ’ s core undertaking . An organization ’ s brand reputation is as fragile as a strand of rain .
In this age of the internet as the greatest mass medium tool and citizen journalism taking the front seat in the collection and dissemination of news , the role of reputation management has never been more critical for organizations . The reputational goals of organizations should therefore , as a matter of necessity , be linked to the organizational strategy for the long term survival and success of the enterprise .
There are few things as valuable to a corporate as a good reputation and an engaged staff ; and yet , many top corporates repeatedly fall short of this basic principle in the formulation of ‘ winning strategies ’, and subsequently get to learn the hard way , and maybe some aren ’ t so lucky and crash to their eternal demise altogether .
The success of an institution easily rises or falls on its reputation . In fact , there are numerous cases that can be cited across many different industries on how the loss of reputation directly impacts on the business , at times completely taking a business empire to its knees .
Unlike in the years gone when the role of reputation management could be left to the communication department alone , with the advent of social media sharing , this is a role that should be every employees responsibility . Organizations must therefore constantly communicate internally with staff with the aim of aligning their thinking and strategic objectives in regards to the kind of brand that they stand for and subsequently wish to project .
This also gives organization a touch-point to the social media circles of employees , platforms that no corporate can afford to ignore due to the shear reach and impact on businesses . An example is Facebook , currently a community of 2 billion people , and actively working towards growing that figure .
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