Social media sites are fast becoming the go to outlet to compliment a marketing campaign. Companies of all sizes are embracing the technology and the ability to interact with their audience to boost sales and enhance marketing. But as I stated in a previous post, Employer Branding with Web2.0 & Social Media, HR and PR departments are lagging far behind. Those responsible for a company's image, apart from sales, and product or service marketing, should be at the forefront of the company's efforts in the online arena.

We have already seen two recent cases where a company's reputation can be hurt quickly by the viral spread of stories or video posted to networking sites like YouTube, FaceBook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter. The cases of KFC and Motrin are now well documented. Just do a google search on KFC and rats, or Motrin and Twitter, and you'll see what I mean.

My question, apart from the obvious effect of tarnished reputation and loss of market share, is how does this effect the morale of existing employees, and the interest of perspective employees, of the companies who own these brands? Motrin responded with an apology and stopped running the offensive material. This was material that was meant to be good marketing and ended up as a PR headache.

CV Harquail at AuthenticOrganizations.com has found a nice presentation that illustrates the basics of reputation management. She points out in her article, Online Reputations and Authenticity a few keys that can be derived:

* Many managers and management scholars are unaware of how important an organization’s online reputation management is to the organization’s overall corporate identity, the organization’s corporate social responsibility efforts, and the organization’s employer branding.

* Managers who remain ignorant of blogs, or twitter, or whatever online tool is being used to discuss an organization, do so at their organization’s peril.

• Although online reputation management seems to be taken seriously only by those in social media and marketing circles, an organization’s online reputation can influence everything about how an organization is perceived . When you consider how perceptions of an organization affect how every stakeholder in the organization’s circle responds to the organization, you can begin to imagine the power of an organization’s online reputation.

And, if that is not enough to get you to pay attention, think more selfishly about your own ‘brand’. Online reputation management is also critical to individuals— as any teenager on Facebook can tell you.

Four points made nicely in this presentation — That we all should use online reputation management tactics to:

1. Offset negative content by promoting what is good, and true
2. Take ownership of your reputation in (yet) another medium,
3. Address negative feedback in a constructive way, and
4. Be open and transparent — and authentic — in your communication and self-presentation.

For more articles and discussions like this, please join me at my new LinkedIn Group for Career Branding.