By Adam Mohrbacher

It will probably come as no surprise that Abraham Lincoln, famously known as 鈥淗onest Abe,鈥� once said, 鈥淩eputation is like fine china: Once broken it鈥檚 very hard to repair.鈥� Although Lincoln lived in the 19th century, his words have never been more relevant to how we live in the 21st. For many businesses, success in our digital first economy is won and lost on the strength of their online reputation. One study, for instance, reported that more than half of consumers will increase their spending with a brand they feel connected to, and more than 3 in 4 will buy from them over a competitor.[i] With such huge stakes in play, reputation management needs to be an organizational priority. But in the hustle and bustle of running an agency, who has the time for one more task? That鈥檚 where new developments in AI can help. Businesses can now utilize AI-powered tools to seamlessly monitor, analyze and respond to online chatter at scale. Here are some of the top ways these applications ensure your reputation stays pristine and your business profitable.

What goes into your online reputation?

Before we start discussing specific AI applications, however, we must clarify what we mean by 鈥渙nline reputation.鈥� Most people know all about the importance of online reviews for influencing buying decisions; but that barely scratches the surface. Your business鈥檚 search engine presence, for example, is also deeply important to how your firm is perceived. Social media plays a similarly influential role, as does your company鈥檚 website. Then, there is a whole host of third-party listing services like the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce and directories like Yellowpages and Yelp. All these need to be proactively managed if you want to safeguard your reputation online.

Monitor in real time

Given such scale and complexity, using AI to help with reputation management makes obvious sense. Today鈥檚 AI applications can help agencies monitor brand mentions and sentiment in real time. Tools such as Brand24, Meltwater and Mention utilize AI algorithms to scan social media feeds, online forums and review sites, and then catalogue any mentions of your brand by positive, neutral or negative sentiment. Armed with this information, agencies can then respond instantly to important online conversations.  Addressing feedback or answering customer queries in a fast, efficient and proactive way reflects positively on your brand.

Compiling and analyzing data

AI-assisted reputation management goes far beyond simple monitoring and response. Applications such as Talkwalker and Reputation are all capable of scraping the web and providing users with actionable, long-term insights. Once deployed, these natural-language models go to work summarizing and auto-tagging online content about a business鈥檚 brand. After that, they cluster it into clear themes so you can quickly spot recurring customer pain points and areas where your business already excels.

Real-time dashboards show immediate shifts in sentiment, while predictive modules forecast where complaints or compliments may spike. Agencies also have the option to use these tools to benchmark their brand against competitors and show whether a dip is industry-wide or specific to them. All-in-all, these AI applications foster deeper consumer analysis and faster course corrections.

Fast, efficient crisis communication

Of course, sometimes despite your best efforts, events occur that can cause harm to your brand. Wire fraud. Vendor failures. Persistent bad reviews. Regulatory violations. All of these can imperil your reputation and damage your long-term profitability. One of the best ways to mitigate any fallout is by having a good crisis communication plan in place. Better yet? Having a good crisis communication plan in place that is augmented by AI.

These agents are invaluable in a crisis scenario for numerous reasons. First, as mentioned, AI excels at monitoring online commentary in real time. If there is ever a spike in negative sentiment, they can alert you to trigger your crisis communication plan. Many of these AI programs can also push out automatic updates across your various online platforms, enabling you to take control of the narrative, ensure messaging consistency and reduce staff fatigue.

Lastly, AI programs can tailor content and optimize your online presence to recover and rebuild trust after the initial crisis scenario has passed.

AI is key to a resilient brand

In the day-to-day grind, prioritizing reputation management can be an uphill battle. Yet a strong brand is always a cornerstone of a successful business. Protecting it requires diligently tracking online conversation across the internet, proactively responding to feedback and mitigating potential crises before they fully emerge. With the rise of AI, it has never been easier for even thinly stretched teams to make that possible. By automating routine tasks, collecting valuable insights and mitigating crisis fallout, these tools enable you to stay on top of your brand with less stress and greater consistency. And that鈥檚 a ticket to long-term growth if there ever was one.

[i]

The post Safeguard Your Brand鈥檚 Reputation With AI appeared first on 星空传媒 星空传媒 Title Insurance Co..

Advertising

Advertising is described as a paid, non-personal, one-way public communication that draws public communication towards a product, service, company, or any other thing through various communication channels, to inform, influence and instigate the target audience to respond in the manner desired by the advertiser.

Advertising can be done through print ads, radio or television ads, billboards, flyers, commercials, internet banner ads, direct mail, etc. Social media platforms are now a major source of advertising.  The advertiser has exclusive control over what, how and when the ad will be aired or published. Moreover, the ad will run as long as the advertiser鈥檚 budget allows or determines it is effective.

As advertising is a prominent marketing tool, it is always present, no matter if people are aware of it or not.

Public Relations

Public Relations is a strategic communication tool that uses different channels, to cultivate favorable relations for the company. It is a practice of building a positive image or reputation of the company in the eyes of the public by telling or displaying the company鈥檚 products or services, in the form of featured stories or articles through print or broadcast media. It aims at building a trust-based relationship between the brand and its customer, mainly through media exposure and coverage.

Public Relations can be called as non-paid publicity earned by the company through its goodwill, word of mouth, etc. (It is often referred to as 鈥渆arned media鈥�).  The tactics used in public relations are publicity, social media, press releases, press conferences, interviews, crisis management, featured stories, speeches, news releases.

Key Differences Between Advertising and Public Relations

Adverting draws public attention to products or services through paid announcements. Public Relations uses strategic communication to build a mutually beneficial relationship between the public and the company or organization.

1. Advertising is a purchased media, whereas, public relations is considered earned media.
2. While advertising is a monologue activity, public relations is a two-way communication process. The company listens and responds to the public.
3. Advertising is used to promote products or services with the objective to induce the targeted audience to buy. Public Relations aims to maintain a positive image of the company in the media, with an indirect result of those effected becoming customers.
4. In advertising, the advertiser has full control over the ad, such as when, how and what will be displayed. In public relations, the company pitches the story, but has no control how the media uses or does not use it.
5. In advertising, the ad placement is guaranteed, but there is no such guarantee of placement with public relations.
6. In advertising, as long as you are willing to pay for it, the ad will be published or aired. Usually in public relations, the story is only published once, but it might be published in many media.
7. Credibility is higher in public relations than advertising. This is because customers know it鈥檚 an ad and may not believe it easily and be skeptical. For Public Relations, third party validation improves credibility.
8. Advertising mainly uses paid announcements (ads) to draw public attention to products or services. Public Relations is the use of strategic communication that aims at building a mutually beneficial relationship between the company and the public.

Advertising and Public Relations both use communication channels to inform and influence the general public. While advertising is a highly expensive marketing tool, it can reach a large number of people at the same time. Public Relations is 鈥渇ree of cost鈥� implied endorsement along with validation of the third party.

The post Advertising vs. Public Relations appeared first on 星空传媒 星空传媒 Title Insurance Co..