By Janette Speyer, Web Success Team

Online reputation management should be a part of your Social Media Marketing Plan. It’s essential!!!

I was talking to a friend that has a very high profile job with a very visible fashion brand. Her company hosted a business event last week and invited all the media to participate. Some industry attendees were dissatisfied with the event and in no less than 24 hours it was splashed all over the Internet.

So much for all the expense, the planning and the hopes of positive feedback and let’s not even get into the damage caused to sales right before THANKSGIVING! BLACK FRIDAY! CYBER MONDAY! Oh noooooooo.

How Do We Avoid DISASTER?

Most big brands have a Social Media Marketing program in place. Online reputation and brand management should be an essential part of this equation. It should not be an “as well as” or let’s react if (or rather when it happens) but a “part of” the strategy. An exit strategy for online disaster should be ready to launch the minute negative press goes out.

So…What to do.

1. Plan Ahead: When planning your event, campaign etc…also think of all the things that could go wrong and have a plan to address them should x, y or z happen.

2. Follow Alerts: Google, Social Mention, Trackur, or anything else you can think of to monitor what “they are saying.” Just so you know.

3. Use Facebook and Linkedin: The day of the bad press address negatives with wall posts. No need to apologize for mistakes made, just sympathize with the individual in question and post your rebuttal focusing on the positive.

4. Start Tweeting: Retweet the “bloggers” and offer a short answers to their concerns.

5. Write Blogs: Blog away addressing all negative concerns and CIRCULATE IT!

6. Post Positives: Publish positive press from the event and add positive attendee comments to reinforce the message that it was a few dissatisfied people out of a vast majority of great feedback — and how the event was a success.

Fear not, transparency is key here and on the Internet. Brands are not immune to negative press. All you need to do is be proactive and take control. Think of President Clinton. He did survive smelling like a rose.

About the Author: Janette Speyer is an online marketer, social media strategist and works for the  Web Success Team. You can follow her @websuccess or join the Web Success Team Facebook Page