9 Elements Of Unhelpful Reputational Exposure For Your Business To Avoid

A business is a platform, even if it doesn’t face the public. For example, while most general consumers couldn’t tell you five different managed IT providers unless they directly interfaced with one at their job, that doesn’t make their B2B platform less important for the acquisition and retention of prize industry clients.

As such, no matter how “public” your business is, always being mindful of your reputation and outreach is important. Yet, unlike in politics or celebrity PR, all news is not good news. It’s very real for a reputational knock, a scandal, a challenge to your standing or a difficulty that goes out of hand could all cause major problems for your firm, and it may take years to unspool this.

Knowing what to avoid in the first place is a great way to shake off some of those harms. So, in this post, we’ll discuss nine elements of unhelpful business exposure to avoid. We hope with that approach, you add protections into your operations to stop your hard work from being tainted regarding your standing in the industry:

1.  PR Conflicts With Your Industry

It’s pretty simple really, you have to think about what your industry values are, and make sure your public image aligns with those values. If you’re in a field that values environmental responsibility, don’t get caught using wasteful practices, for example. If an ex-staffer says your green charity didn’t have a paperless initiative, that might limit donations. A law firm running afoul of regulations could also suffer real harm.

Put simply, your actions speak louder than words. It’s not just about what you say in press releases or interviews, assume your customers, clients or investors are highly intelligent and will be looking for consistency.

2.  Training Employees On Brand Messaging

An employee is generally focused on doing the best they can, but they can only work with what you give them. After all, they interact with customers, suppliers, and the public often, which is why it’s crucial to train them on your brand messaging. They need to understand what your company stands for and how to communicate that to others.

This training should cover more than just your slogan online of course, but it should delve into your company’s values, mission, and vision. For example, if you run a drug rehab service, you don’t want your communications manager joking about addiction for a funny TikTok post. It’ll gather the wrong type of attention.

3.  Unhelpful Staff Social Media Activity

What your employees post online can hurt your business, even if it’s their right to post it. A highly vitriolic political post or controversial social media activity could reflect badly on you, which is why you need a clear social media policy for your staff.

This policy should explain what’s okay to post about work and what’s not – but be specific. It should cover privacy issues and how to handle negative comments about the company online too. For example, if your manager is fighting against people in the comments of their personal account, that’s not a great look.

Tell your staff to think before they post. If they’re not sure about something, they should ask first. It’s better to be careful than to deal with the fallout from a bad post. Unfortunately, this might mean disciplining them as appropriate.

4.  Incoherent Media Strategies

Yes, we all know your message should be clear no matter if it’s on your website, social media, press releases, or general ads. However a mixed-up strategy can confuse people, and it’s important to remember that as you manage different outreach strategies. Brands tend to be quite zany and witty on apps like TikTok, but could this dilute your wider approach, especially if you lean too hard into meme culture? What if you misunderstand a trend?

In other words, it’s better to post less frequently than with an unhelpful scattergun. The chances of your making a mistake you’ll have to apologize for or deal with blowback are simply not worth it.

5.  Bad Merchandise

Many companies have started to use merchandise in their outreach, for obvious reasons. It’s a great way to spread your brand, to showcase your dedication to your particular field, and also provide nice freebies at events.

But remember merchandise reflects on your company, even if you’ve provided it entirely for free. You can bet guests will complain if you give them a bad hat or a pen that leaks everywhere. That’s why we’d recommend finding a helpful retailer like the promo superstore that can better understand your needs and put them into practice, curating high-quality merchandise customized to suitable standards. That way, you can avoid disappointing, or worse, harming your audience with the merchandise you haven’t correctly prepared.

6.  Letting Negative Press Go Unopposed

When bad news about your company comes out, you need to respond quickly and well. Ignoring it won’t make it disappear. In fact, saying nothing can make you look guilty or like you don’t care.

It’s important to make a plan for dealing with bad press before you need it. This plan should say who speaks for the company, how you’ll get your message out, and what you’ll say. When you respond to negative press, be honest and open. Admit any mistakes and explain how you’re fixing the problem, or if your problem isn’t considered your own fault, use impartial teams to investigate the issue.

Don’t just react to bad news either, share good news about your company too. This can help build goodwill that can soften the blow of any future bad press.

7.  Disregarding Ethical Sourcing

People care about where products come from and how they’re made. We used to call these “conscious consumers,” but now we just call them consumers, because unhelpful practices aren’t just accepted anymore, they must be accounted for. Ignoring ethical sourcing can seriously hurt your reputation, as we often see with fast fashion brands. This matters whether you sell to consumers or other businesses, as all are looking to avoid being related to bad practices.

It’s not an easy task, but baking in measures to your operations can help you avoid being tricked. First, look closely at your supply chain. Are your suppliers using fair labor practices? Are they eco-friendly? If you’re not sure, find out. If they won’t tell you, use that as a bad sign. Think about making rules for your suppliers that explain what you expect from them.

This allows you to continually remain open about your sourcing practices. If you’re trying to improve in this area, tell your customers and partners, they may even give you the benefit of the doubt for a little while.. People appreciate companies that are honest about their challenges and are working to do better, even if you have a slip-up, but you cannot ignore it.

8.  Improperly Vetting Staff Or Outsourced Agents

The people you bring on board can sometimes redefine your business for the better, but they can also bring your firm into disrepute. This goes a lot further than just what they do on social media, though of course that counts. Try not to consider only what skills you need, but what character you’d like in your firm also. A capable staff member with a shady past or an outsourced agent with dodgy practices can land you in hot water no matter how helpful they are.

Ultimately, it’s on your firm to do its homework before hiring. Check references, run background checks, and trust your gut on top of that. For outsourced agents, dig into their track record. Have they worked with reputable companies? What do their past clients say?

Remember, “one bad apple can spoil the bunch” is the saying, not “every barrel has some bad apples”. Does that mean you can’t give people the benefit of the doubt and the chance to prove themselves? Of course not, but it also means being aware of what people can be like from time to time. If you hire enough over the years, someone untoward is bound to apply.

9.  Controversial Endorsements

Who your business endorses can sometimes be a real issue. Look at how DC Comics and WB Films threw their endorsement behind Ezra Miller for one of their major characters, only for their behavior and difficulties to come to the light as time went on.

Does that mean you can predict if that athlete you give a sponsorship deal to will have a DUI the week after? Not at all. But if you can, it means aligning yourself to those who have proven capable, who haven’t disappointed in the pats, and who you truly believe in. It also means learning when to withdraw such endorsements and taking an appropriate stand on the issues you have in front of you. Doing so can help you avoid problem as time goes on, while also ensuring those lucky enough to use your brand name don’t squander the opportunity

With this advice, you’ll be certain to avoid unwanted business exposure and risk as time goes on. It may just take a little time to get there and recover from mistakes.

 

 

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