4 PR gaffes that jeopardize your reputation

There are few things as stressful as managing a PR disaster.

When crisis strikes, and the reputation of your business is questioned, there’s so much to do. You’re working overtime to control the damage and trying to figure out how to get out of this situation and back to where you once were.

Sometimes, it can take months or years before your reputation is restored. In other cases, it can’t be done, and you’re living with this weight on your shoulders forever.

Warren Buffet knew what he was talking about when he said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

Here are four PR catastrophes communicators should be careful to avoid:

1. Social media outbursts

Social media is a brilliant marketing tool, but it can also be the cause of many PR calamities.

Sometimes an organization will take to social media to voice controversial opinions that land them in hot water, perhaps as an aggressive response to abuse and criticism from online trolls. Other times it can be the result of pure carelessness or a lack of understanding of the power of social media and how it can affect your brand.

A salient example of this is a tweet from Chase Bank just a few days ago, since deleted.