It’s happened to all of us. That unflattering photo pops up on social media, and suddenly we’re the laughing stock of our friends and colleagues. Unfortunately, for business owners, unflattering photos can be more than just a personal embarrassment – they can be damaging to your reputation and your bottom line. 

With reputations at stake, it can be useful to know about, for instance, the google image removal tool. This allows businesses to remove problematic photos from being able to be viewed publically on social media. We are talking about the kinds of photos that will cause a business to look less than professional when it comes to its image or brand.

To look less than professional is damaging whether it is in the eyes of the customers, when it might mean losing sales, or in front of suppliers, who may no longer feel that they can do business because of the threat to their reputation too. No company that has worked hard to build up its reputation over many years will want to be associated with embarrassing photos that could potentially reflect badly on them because of the kinds of business decisions they are making through their association with another.

Here are four tips for dealing with unflattering photos online.

Don’t delete the photo outright

While it may be tempting to delete unflattering photos as soon as you see them, this can do more harm than good. When you delete a photo, people may suspect that you’re trying to hide something, which can damage your credibility. Additionally, many people will take a screenshot of the photo before you have a chance to delete it, meaning that it will still be circulated even if you do remove it from your page.

Don’t try to hide the photo

Similarly, don’t try to hide unflattering photos by making them private or using other privacy settings. This can also make you look like you’re trying to hide something, which will damage your reputation.

Respond to the photo in a positive way

If you can see the funny side of an unflattering photo, others will too. Try to make light of the situation and turn it into a positive. For example, if you’re featured in an unflattering photo on a friend’s page, you could comment with a joke or funny story. This may be harder if you are a business, however. It might be worth a try, but you could make the situation worse and create a complete PR disaster.

Seek professional help if necessary

In some cases, unflattering photos can do serious damage to your business reputation. If you’re concerned that an unflattering photo could jeopardize your business, it’s best to seek professional help. A good reputation management firm can help you identify and remove unflattering photos, as well as help you protect your business reputation in the future.

It is often turning to software that will provide us with our ultimate solution when it comes to dealing with the problem of photos that we do not want to be linked to our business. Look at what your package already allows you to do and then look wider afield to companies that have the software and tools you need to deal with photos on and offline. Speed will be important to protect a reputation.

Social media can be a great tool for businesses to connect with customers and create a positive online presence. However, unflattering photos can sometimes damage that reputation. If you find yourself in this situation, there are steps you can take to mitigate the damage and protect your business. We’ve outlined some of those steps in this article, so be sure to read them if you ever find yourself in this unfortunate situation.