Spa Marketing Resources: Spa Branding

Spotlight on You – Defending Your Brand Online

"ALL publicity is good." It used to be, if you were a Hollywood star, any publicity (including bad publicity) was just fine. Any attention was better than no attention.  

Does that saying hold true today? I’d argue that it doesn’t.  With rapid-fire media postings on blogs, forums, and discussion boards a single negative review can damage your reputation.

Case in point:  In a recent post on Church of the Customer Blog, Jackie Huba cast her spotlight on the milk + honey day spa in Austin, TX.  After incurring a "gift certificate handling charge," she posed a simple online question. ‘Have you ever encountered a "handling fee" on a gift certificate, and what do you think of this spa's use of it?’

As of today, 59 comments have been posted and thousands of people have read the entries. To her credit, the owner of the spa, Alissa Bayer, was pro active and replied quickly to mitigate any damage from the online “press”.

I contacted Ms. Bayer and she said, "I take our reputation and client satisfaction very seriously. The blog was a great reminder of how important it is to constantly train your personnel and secret shop your staff!"

She goes on to state, "Of course, I prefer any association with my company to be in a positive light, but we are, after all, human. Mistakes will happen, and clients may become upset. I don't have much control over that. I do, however, have complete control over how we react to unfortunate situations. I see an annoyed or upset client as an opportunity to make someone really happy. Customers expect that you are going to do your job right, so they aren't that impressed when you do. However, customers often have very low expectations for how an issue will be resolved, so there is a great opportunity to be generous with a resolution and potentially win a loyal customer for life."

No one likes to be called up on the carpet in a public forum.  What’s the best strategy?

• Post your reply as quickly as possible.  No response may be construed as an admission of guilt.
• Be honest and not defensive. If you or someone in your day spa has made a mistake, admit it.
• Be authentic.  Bloggers and forum participants can spot insincerity in a heartbeat.
• Exert control by engaging in the ongoing discussion, if appropriate.
• Make sure your website ranks high in search engines so people can learn more about your day spa.
• If you haven’t already done so, create your own blog and online community.
• Use an optimized online press release to strengthen your brand. Consider a service such as PRWeb.

Moral of the story: Monitor your brand online and interact with respective communities.  If someone shines the light on your day spa, be sure to reply quickly and courteously to reduce fallout from negative press.

The blogosphere is a great source of market intelligence. Use it. And remember, on the web, you are what you publish.

Need help marketing your brand online, contact Spa Marketing at 860-655-2283.