Navigating the treacherous waters of digital reputation management, we’ve gathered insights from CEOs and Founders to address the unique challenges of the online world. From turning negative feedback into advocacy to building reputation with authentic insights, explore the seventeen strategies these experts employ to maintain and enhance their digital presence.
- Turn Negative Feedback into Advocacy
- Implement Cybersecurity Best Practices
- Embrace Transparency and Accountability
- Ignore Trolls and Parody Accounts
- Proactive Social Listening for Brand Trust
- Address Valid Criticism, Ignore Trolls
- Choose Battles Against Fake Online Content
- Cultivate Trust with Educational Social Media
- Build Trust with Face-to-Face Workshops
- Educate and Prove Marketing Strategies
- Maintain Consistent Brand Across Channels
- Educate Employees on Digital Citizenship
- Navigate Amazon Reviews with Proactive Steps
- Ignore Anonymity, Focus on Genuine Feedback
- Engage Honestly with Customer Concerns
- Combat Deepfakes with Swift PR Action
- Build Reputation with Authentic Insights
Turn Negative Feedback into Advocacy
Negative feedback is a challenge in the digital era because even a single negative review online can quickly escalate into a storm of negativity, hitting the brand’s reputation. I’ve seen many businesses making the same mistake by neglecting negative reviews posted by their customers since the early years of running our review platform.
More and more consumers trust online reviews about businesses, which means if you don’t react on time, you put your reputation at risk. I always emphasize that a response to negative feedback is crucial, and you should learn to turn confrontations into conversations. When a customer posts a critical review, we respond promptly, asking detailed follow-up questions to ensure we understand their experience. This not only shows our commitment to resolving the issue but also makes the customer feel heard. By addressing concerns directly and openly, we’ve transformed many critics into loyal advocates, significantly improving our online reputation.
Michael Podolsky
Co-Founder and CEO, PissedConsumer
Implement Cybersecurity Best Practices
Cybersecurity threats pose a great challenge to brands online in terms of data security and reputation. Data breaches, which have become more frequent, can lead to leaks of customer information, resulting in significant reputational damage and financial loss while exposing customers to other threats. Unauthorized system access and defacement are other forms of cybersecurity threats that pose a challenge to the reputation of online brands in the digital era.
At TrackingMore, our strategy for safeguarding against these threats is adhering to cybersecurity best practices, including compliance with the ISO 27001 protocol. Commitment to these data security standards ensures that customer data is protected and kept safe from malicious intrusions.
Additionally, continuous threat monitoring of our systems and social media profiles ensures we stay ahead of possible threats and can respond quickly to maintain a positive reputation.
Clooney Wang
CEO, TrackingMore
Embrace Transparency and Accountability
As CEO of a digital compliance company, online reputation is critical. We built proprietary tech to monitor government agency portals for client notices, but that visibility meant any system hiccups spread fast. Early on, a data capture error caused late responses for some clients.
We moved quickly to audit the issue and update software, but also emailed clients acknowledging the mistake and outlining fixes. Transparency and accountability built trust that we took their needs seriously. We then asked clients to review how we’d handled the situation. The positive feedback and referrals from their network outweighed the initial frustration.
Today, we have alerts flagging trending compliance topics on social media and news sources. We post relevant content to establish expertise, but also comment on others’ posts to join industry discussions. With cloud-based services, people expect always-on support, so we have teams monitoring platforms during off hours. Responding to questions or concerns, even on weekends, has strengthened our reputation for unparalleled customer service.
Staying ahead of digital reputation challenges requires a proactive and dedicated approach. But investing resources into building real, trusting relationships—and software that supports accountability—has been key to overcoming obstacles and cementing our role as an industry leader. Transparency, availability, and expertise are the values that have fueled our growth in the digital age.
Amanda Reineke
CEO & Co-Founder, NoticeNinja
Ignore Trolls and Parody Accounts
One of the reputation challenges posed by the digital era is the rise of parody accounts on social media and meme culture. The content created and shared by trolls on social media has a very high chance of going viral and reaching millions of users in just a few hours. The more traction such content gets, the more likely it is for others to join the bandwagon. And it quickly snowballs into something uncontrollable. The best way to address it is just to do nothing about it and let it die down on its own. But sometimes, some things do get to you. When it happens, you have to stay composed and move on without paying much attention to such things.
Jared Atchison
Co-Founder, WPForms
Proactive Social Listening for Brand Trust
A unique reputation challenge in the digital age is how false information spreads. At Kixely, we’ve tackled this problem by putting in place a proactive social-listening plan. We use AI-powered tools to keep an eye on mentions of our brand across platforms. This lets us spot and deal with any untrue stories. This approach has helped us keep our audience’s trust and stay on top of possible reputation issues.
Nicolas Garfinkel
Founder, Kixely
Address Valid Criticism, Ignore Trolls
One of the challenges with building your reputation is that there are mean-spirited people online who will talk badly about you or your company for attention or just for fun. You’ll instinctively want to jump in every time you see this, but the truth is, you shouldn’t. Don’t get me wrong; address criticism if it’s valid and based on fact. But if someone tags you just to call you names, ignore them. They aren’t interested in discourse. Spend your time engaging with people who want to talk and learn more about you or your products. All of this can be summed up in a familiar phrase: don’t feed the trolls.
John Turner
Founder, SeedProd
Choose Battles Against Fake Online Content
Fake posts or scams using your likeness. I have seen web pages using my name, picture, and content, and sometimes the info posted on the page is jumbled and doesn’t make sense—unlike the way it was originally posted. The lawyer and detail-oriented part of me wants to fix this and every single error I can find. But peace of mind is more important than being right everywhere on the internet, so I find equanimity knowing these things are out of my control and not worth a legal battle to get an injunction or force the third party to take it down. Choose your battles.
Givelle Lamano
CEO, Lamano Law Office
Cultivate Trust with Educational Social Media
Building a reputation as a strong lawyer has always been about cultivating trust and creating a network of support. Before the digital age, this was a lengthy process involving face-to-face interactions and word-of-mouth. Now, social media has made it much more achievable by allowing us to connect with a wider audience rapidly with a single tap or click.
However, managing how social media affects both my professional and personal life can be tricky, as this will paint how I’ll be perceived by others. As a female attorney, I see social media as a double-edged sword. It’s a great way to support and showcase women in the male-dominated field of law, but it also requires careful management to keep a good reputation.
When I share content online, I’m really careful about what I say, especially on sensitive or controversial topics. I always think about how my posts might be seen by current and potential clients and colleagues. By focusing on sharing valuable and informative content and choosing my words wisely, I’ve been able to build a positive and influential online presence. As a mother, it’s also important to me to model acceptable online behavior to my kids.
One approach that has proven successful for me is creating and posting fun, legal-education shorts on YouTube. These videos allow me to connect with a broader audience, demystify legal concepts, and showcase my expertise in an engaging way. They’ve become a great tool for building trust and expanding my network.
Stephanie Sherman
Partner, Attorney, Wisner Baum
Build Trust with Face-to-Face Workshops
Anyone can leave a review online, and with bookkeeping being such a personal service, building trust is key. Some clients might not be comfortable sharing all their financial details publicly, even in a positive review. To address this, I’ve focused on building trust offline. I host regular workshops where I share financial tips for small businesses. This allows potential clients to see my expertise and get a feel for my personality in a casual setting. It’s all about building rapport before they even consider hiring me. Word-of-mouth recommendations are powerful, and they often come from that initial trust built face-to-face.
Echo Wang
CEO & Co-Founder, EpicBooks
Educate and Prove Marketing Strategies
As a medical marketing expert, a key challenge is gaining provider trust in an industry where skepticism is commonplace. I address this through education and transparency.
For example, when onboarding a new client, I walk through how their online presence will be built to convert visitors to patients. I share case studies of a dermatology practice growing 133% year-over-year by optimizing their website and social media. By proving strategy and results, providers see marketing as an investment versus a cost.
I encourage clients to give online reviews to establish credibility. For an orthopedic group, revamping their digital marketing increased new patient calls by 62% per month. Their 5-star reviews brought long-term trust in our services.
While managing reputation is ongoing, I’ve built an agency helping practices think bigger through quantifiable outcomes. Providing real value and accountability are key to overcoming skepticism in an era where hollow promises are common.
Jeff McGeary
Founder & CEO, PracticeVIP LLC
Maintain Consistent Brand Across Channels
One challenge is that having a presence on multiple online channels requires maintaining a consistent brand reputation across them all. We are addressing this by formulating a unified brand voice and a coherent content strategy that guarantees the consistency of the message.
For example, we established standards for what our social media, customer service, and marketing outreach teams said and posted—which was exciting, fun, and always focused on service. We have also adjusted content, now tailored to encapsulate current brand values and goals, upgrading and synchronizing what we say in different venues. It is critical to stay consistent—not doing so creates confusion for the audience.
So far, this strategy has helped us keep a united, positive brand representation across digital touchpoints. This has also improved our overall reputation, generated more customer confidence, and ensured that our brand is perceived as intended in every customer interaction.
Jason Brooks
Co-Founder, UK Linkology
Educate Employees on Digital Citizenship
One often-overlooked reputation challenge in the digital era is the potential for employee actions on personal social media accounts to reflect on the company. In today’s world, where the line between professional and personal lives is increasingly blurred, a controversial post or comment by an employee can quickly be associated with our organization, even if it’s unrelated to their work.
To tackle this issue, we’ve developed a comprehensive social media policy and training program for all employees. This program educates our staff about the potential impacts of their online presence on our company’s reputation, without infringing on their personal freedoms. We’ve also created an internal communication channel where employees can seek guidance on potentially sensitive posts. Additionally, we’ve fostered a company culture that emphasizes digital citizenship and responsible online behavior.
By empowering our employees to be mindful ambassadors of our brand, we’ve significantly reduced the risk of reputational damage from individual social media activities while also enhancing our overall online presence through the authentic voices of our team members.
Matt Earle
President, Reputation
Navigate Amazon Reviews with Proactive Steps
Unfortunately, Amazon took away the sellers’ ability to comment back on a review. I’m not sure why they did that. Sometimes users will leave a negative review because of an improper installation of a product or simply because of a misunderstanding. It would be a significant help to sellers if they could comment back.
There are a few options when you find a negative Amazon review about your product or your company. First, you can try to contact the reviewer through Buyer-Seller Messaging, or if there is an email, use that. When you contact them, first apologize and ask how you can fix the issue for them. Second, to offset the negative review, try to attract as many positive reviews as possible. You can do this in several creative ways, such as asking shoppers to review your product in your newsletters or through social media. Third, if you feel a user has left an unfair or inappropriate review, you can ask Amazon to review it. These are a few ways to get around the challenge of not being able to comment directly back on a review.
Shu Saito
CEO, All Filters
Ignore Anonymity, Focus on Genuine Feedback
One of the biggest reputation management challenges posed by the digital era is the power of anonymity. People can easily hide their identity when spreading misinformation, which makes it difficult for you to track the actual sources of misinformation and consider fitting countermeasures. So, you can’t even call people out on what they’ve been saying, and present a rebuttal.
The best way to deal with this is to just ignore such people, as a vast majority of them are simply trolls. Responding to hateful comments or participating in such threads is like adding fuel to the fire. So, the best course of action is to just ignore them. However, this doesn’t mean that you should throw legitimate negative reviews or feedback from your customers under the rug. If genuine concerns are brought up by people, you should always cater to them and respond as the situation demands.
Andrew Munro
Founder & President, AffiliateWP
Engage Honestly with Customer Concerns
Managing an online reputation is one of the biggest challenges in today’s digital world. With social media and review sites, negative feedback can spread like wildfire and damage a company’s brand.
We have faced it firsthand at Donorbox. We saw a few payment failures on our donation page, and some customers wrote tweets about default payments, tagging us. We knew it was an issue on our end, so instead of panicking, we were transparent about the issue and what went wrong. We engaged directly with customers, addressing their concerns openly and honestly. We also leveraged our strong social media presence to share positive customer experiences and highlight our product’s benefits.
By being proactive and putting our customers first, we were able to turn the situation around and emerge stronger. This experience taught me the importance of building genuine relationships, leveraging social listening to understand what customers say about our brand online, and tracking negative comments before they become an issue.
Raviraj Hegde
Svp of Growth & Sales, Donorbox
Combat Deepfakes with Swift PR Action
From a PR pro’s perspective, one of the unique reputation challenges posed by the digital era is the rise of deepfakes and synthetic media. These technologies are used to create incredibly realistic videos and audio recordings of people saying and doing things they never did. This poses a serious threat to an individual’s or a brand’s reputation. It is nearly impossible to distinguish between a deepfake video and the real thing. Here’s a recent example I encountered: A politician was running for re-election when a deepfake video surfaced online, portraying him making offensive remarks regarding a minority group. The video went viral, and it took weeks for the politician to debunk it convincingly. Even after this, some damage to his reputation was inevitable.
Vipul Jain
Founder and CEO, Red Tulip Media
Build Reputation with Authentic Insights
When I retired from being a serial entrepreneur to being a mentor and coach for midlife professionals and entrepreneurs, I was constantly faced with eye-rolling (as in ‘Oh no, another coach’). I understand why: because there are way too many coaches out there with no real expertise. Many of their recommendations, especially on social media, are regurgitated and shallow at best. The approach that has worked for me is that instead of sharing shallow, short quotes, I share my lengthy insights by really leaning into sharing my (sometimes complex) journey and experiences. Yes, I make myself vulnerable, but I also build trust and make myself relatable. And with that, I differentiate myself and build my very own reputation online.
Sabine Schopke
Serial Entrepreneur, Bestselling Author, Podcaster, Business Growth & Midlife Guidance Coach, Sabine Schopke
