427. Online Reputation Management › 10 rules to recover from an online brand attack 3. Act immediately!One of the easiest ways to solve the majority of brand attacks is to respondquickly. A brand that shows it is listening and does indeed care will go far whenit comes to ensuring a solid online reputation. A conscious reaction is the onlyway forward - acknowledging what has been said and reacting accordingly. 4. If what they’re saying is false...If the mention of your brand is factually incorrect, in a friendly tone, send theperson evidence that they are wrong, ask for removal or retraction of the entry,and offer to keep them informed of future news. If no action is taken by the blogauthor, then add a comment. 5. If what they’re saying is true... noteIf it is true, learn from the “Dell Hell” phenomenon. If the mention is negative Apple came in for heavybut true then send your side of the story and try as hard as you can to take it criticism from fans whenoffline. it dropped the price of the iPhone from $599 to $399 just two months after 6. Keep the negative pages out of the search engines it launched. Steve JobsKeeping more people from reading negative things about your brand is from Apple respondedimperative. What you can do is knock them off the first page of the results within days with a candidwith basic SEO topped with some social media page setups such as Facebook open letter, and a $100and Twitter or blog posts. Keep adding pages and links until you’ve forced the voucher for customersoffending pages out of sight. who had bought the more expensive phone. You can read his letter at 7. Maintain communication www.apple.com/hotnews/If you aren’t an active member of the online community, it tends to be a little openiphoneletterharder to recover from an online attack. If your company doesn’t have a blog,start one. Participate in industry forums and chat rooms. Build genuinecredibility as a member of these conversations and you’ll find that people willhave more respect for you and your brand. 8. Engage in the conversationKeep your brand in the face of consumers by engaging in the conversation.This could be done by making use of blogs, communicating with customersand being as open and honest as possible. Engaging in, and leading, theconversation allows you to build an authentic voice. If a crisis hits, you will bewell placed to respond in a way that is authentic. 9. CareIf you truly care what your customers think then most of this will come naturally.That’s all people want. They give you their money, they just want some goodservice and respect in return. 10. Be preparedNo brand is immune from an online brand attack. The best brands have 431