Fake news articles keep on circulating, and it is highly probable that you or your brand/business might have to face it at some point or the other. On top of it, it is virtually impossible to prevent it from happening when the internet is omnipresent in today’s times, and almost every business has a presence online. The only solution is curing if such a thing happens.
ORM in Digital Marketing would take care of this, and hence we are going to see a few workarounds that would help in protecting your reputation post any fake news article gets published. This would help in having firsthand knowledge about certain to do things.
- To Do’s When any Fake News Article is Affecting:
- Take into consideration the facts
The primary ‘to do’ when you come across any fake news articles about yourself, your business, etc. is to instantly extract the fact from fiction. Doesn’t matter how much ridiculous the fake news is, more often than not, it will contain one or two pieces of truth. With the intent to tackle the situation as fast as possible, go through the story, mark the inaccuracies, and go about correcting them. Once done, such a corrected copy can be posted on to your website and/or the social media channels as per the requirement.
- Come up with an immediate response
Work out a plan on how to address fake news articles. It would be a wise decision to involve the experienced members of your team in such an activity. Allocate the roles and responsibilities properly, and define the steps to be taken so as to initiate a response from your end. Doing this is essential and critical. Identify the areas where additional resources, technology, or manpower would be required to take quick action in an effective manner. Do not forget to keep the approval procedures clear.
On the other hand, if professional ORM services are availed from an agency, those guys will do the job. So, it’s your choice after all.
- Remaining silent is your right. Remember this!
Ignoring is at times the best possible method to handle false accusations or claims. There is no need to be vocal every time. In the event you feel that staying away from a debate/argument would work out the best, such a decision should be justified in front of critical team players like the stakeholders and the employees. To summarize, simply staying mum is not enough. Communicating the reason behind keeping quiet to those involved, is essential.
- Community building comprising loyalists and followers
Building a community of fans will benefit your brand/business in a number of ways. Upon consistently nurturing it, they will stand by you when needed.
Experts even recommend creating a community in advance, even before one needs it. This got to be done keeping in mind the possibility of fake news being circulated against you/your business/brand, at any point in time. Such genuine loyal fans and followers would speak on your behalf.
In case your brand adopts the defensive method, it might result in the opposite effect sometimes. However, if the brand’s community comes to its defense, it offers much more credibility.
An ORM company would come up with such customized strategies to secure your reputation from fake news articles. So, if not confident of dealing with it all by yourself, you can always seek professional help. It would help big time.
- Going the legal way is also an option
Although PR experts recommend their clients to stay away from using the media, the case is a bit different for obviously fake news articles. Legal action becomes necessary in certain situations, so as to rectify fake news or have it deleted by going against the media house that published it.
This was about the workarounds for protecting your reputation, posting a fake news article gets published.
Those who wish to avail professional online reputation management services to handle such situations have a number of options in terms of service providers. IBRANDtech is one such online reputation management company.
