(Newswire.net — May 15, 2013) — In a digital age, rash decisions can haunt you indefinitely and this lesson, unfortunately for Kitchen Nightmares stars Sammy and Amy, can be learned the hard way. Twitter, Facebook and Yelp can harm your business as much as they can help.
With that in mind, Zap Marketing Group, a San Diego Reputation Marketing Company, has recently renewed efforts to educate small business owners in regards to online reputation management. Information and emotions travel rapidly on the web and, regardless of whether it’s fact or fiction, the bookmarking site Reddit can go viral, and tweets and Yelpers can transform five star reviews to one star stay-away reports in the blink of an eye.
“I have seen businesses with the best practices and intentions fall victim to unethical complaints on social media. No one is immune,” said Michael Pearse, a reputation marketer.
Such was the recent experience of Amy’s Baking Company. After some negative exposure on Kitchen Nightmares a clip of the show was posted on Reddit. It was at that point when Samy and Amy Bouzaglo should have hired the professionals to go into reputation management mode. Instead, in the heat of the moment, they tried to handle the increasing criticism by deflecting it on facebook. It was more than they bargained for, and as the trickle became a deluge, and remarks became more and more heated, Samy and Amy Bouzaglo responded in kind. That became bigger news than ever. Tweets started going viral, and those on Yelp downgraded the 1.5 star restaurant.
Experts in reputation management might have considered a completely different route. They might have temporarily deactivated facebook or prevented comments while posting an apology from management. They might also have removed the Bougazlo’s website and waited until the fuss died down before letting it go live again. They might also have ensured that any search for the company only brought up positive reviews. The purpose of it would have been to let as little of the damage surface on the web as possible.
“It is key business owners do not let emotion to take over when responding to consumer complaints or attacks. This event is the perfect example,” said Pearse.
Zap Marketing Group has now been successfully caring for their existing clients in this field for some years and, based on that experience, has now opened the doors to new clients. Zap Marketing Group continues to offer Mobile and Local SEO as well as Reputation Management to small business owners.
Media Contact: Michael Pearse
Email: michael@pearseconsulting.com
Phone: (619) 436-6893
Google+: Michael Pearse
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