How to be a fly on the [online] wall?

After my first full week as a career woman trying to get ‘work fit’, I spent the weekend relaxing in front of the television watching Gossip Girl. I became fixated by the show’s elite Upper East Siders. Their lives are narrated by a nameless, faceless ‘fly on the wall’ who sees and hears everything that goes on and reports it back to them via SMS.

The characters - Blair Waldorf, Serena Van der Woodsen and their cohorts - thus have constant commentary through blog updates on the scandalous rumours and gossip that surrounds them. Like these Manhattan socialites, you need to know what is being said about you and your company in order to maintain the right public image. The question is how you do this.  

Image from: netprihod.com/tag/gossip-girl-season-1

Being a fly on the online wall is not as impossible as it seems. Rumours, gossip and opinions abound in the world of consumer generated media and it is essential to follow these in order to have a holistic view of your company’s image and reputation. The omniscient Gossip Girl communications network for the Upper East Side is similar to the blogs, forums and other social media that appear on the web. As said in the show: “you are nobody until you are talked about”. The problem, as the Manhattan kids have found out, is that both positive and negative mentions can appear on a search engine results page (or mobile screen as it were).

A bad reputation can affect consumer confidence. As most people do their research online in order to buy offline, these online conversations are critical to the buying cycle. Blogs in particular are indexed well by search engines and therefore appear in the search results for your company or brand name.

The three steps to tracking your online reputation without the existence of your own “Gossip Girl” is to monitor, analyse and influence. It is important to monitor what is said by customers, employees, competitors and the industry as a whole by tracking the relevant mentions (i.e. gossip concerning you and your brand). You can do this through RSS feed readers, using Google alerts, Technorati or BrandsEye.  

Analysing what is being said and by whom can be done through ORM tools such as BrandsEye which have a highly specialised Gossip Girl edge as they can distinguish between positive and negative sentiment and rate its importance. This is done through the use of a computer algorithm and the added bonus of human intelligence (me!).

Influencing is the simple matter of engaging in the conversation. You can’t deny the rumours if you are not speaking. Consumer complaint sites such as getclosure are a good avenue for engaging and discussing with upset consumers.  Blogs and Forums - as the gossip sites of social media - can be used to ensure a two way conversation. Negative mentions can receive clarification and WebPR  can promote positive campaigns.

This can turn brand haters into brand evangelists and help one avoid the costly and often ineffective campaigns used to respond to CGM rumours that have run amuck. The most important thing is to be honest in your response, admit when you are wrong and apologise if necessary. There seems to be a lesson for the characters of Gossip Girl in there too.