You must have heard this line about reputation – It takes years to build and seconds to destroy!
And in those years, you have to maintain the reputation continuously. And that task is not as easy as it sounds. In the case of businesses where the online brand reputation is so fragile, you have to keep a 24*7 eye on it and keep working on it.
Here, we will talk about how to do it. The term for this continuous work is – Online Reputation Management. Yes, it is a continuous and full-fledged process that requires a dedicated team as well.
According to a report – ‘87% of executives consider reputation risk to be of greater importance than other strategic risks.’
Now, with this huge number, you can imagine how important the reputation of a business is.
Let’s start with knowing the meaning of ORM (Online Reputation Management).
What is Online Reputation Management?
Online Reputation Management (ORM) is about keeping track of and improving how a person or business looks online. It involves handling what shows up about them on the internet to make sure it’s positive.
It involves monitoring and managing the online content related to an entity, addressing negative or misleading information, and promoting positive or accurate content.
ORM is crucial for maintaining a positive online presence, as it significantly impacts the decisions and perceptions of consumers, investors, and partners.
This process encompasses the analysis of search engine results, social media mentions, and online reviews to ensure a favorable digital footprint.
Why is Online Brand Reputation Management Important for Businesses?
Before we discuss the importance of online reputation, let’s take a look at this incident. One famous example of a brand suffering from a bad online reputation is United Airlines.
United Airlines faced a significant backlash, and their stock price dropped dramatically in the days following the incident. This situation highlights the swift impact that negative online content can have on a company’s reputation and financial health.
Why ORM is crucial?
- Quick Spread: Information spreads fast online. A single negative incident can be seen by millions in hours, affecting your brand’s image.
- Lasting First Impressions: For many customers, online content is the first interaction with your brand. Negative information can turn them away before you even have a chance.
- Influences Buying Decisions: People research online before making purchases. Bad reviews or news can lead potential customers to choose competitors.
- Damage Control: Having ORM in place means you can quickly address negative content, potentially mitigating damage before it escalates.
- Builds Trust: Actively managing your online reputation helps build trust with customers. It shows you care about your image and, by extension, your customers and their experiences.
- Encourages Positive Content: ORM isn’t just about handling the bad; it’s also about promoting the good. Highlighting positive reviews and stories can enhance your brand’s online presence.
Taking care of your online reputation is like looking after your personal reputation. You want people to see the best version of you—or, in this case, your business.
Top 9 Strategies for Managing Online Reputation
Managing your online reputation is key to success. It’s about keeping your image clean and positive on the internet. Here are the top 9 strategies to do just that. These tips will help protect and improve how people see your brand online.
1. Encourage Customers to Review
Encouraging customers to leave reviews is a great strategy for managing your online reputation. Here’s how you can do it:
- Ask Nicely: After a purchase or service, kindly ask your customers to share their experience online. A simple request can go a long way.
- Make It Easy: Provide direct links to your review pages. The easier it is, the more likely they’ll leave a review.
- Say Thank You: Show appreciation for feedback. A thank you can make customers feel valued and more inclined to share their thoughts.
- Respond to Reviews: Engage with the reviews you receive, both good and bad. It shows you care and value customer feedback.
- Offer Incentives: Sometimes, a small incentive, like a discount on their next purchase, can motivate customers to leave a review.
Positive reviews can boost your reputation and attract more customers. It’s about showing the best side of your business through the voices of those who have experienced it firsthand.
2. Respond to Negative Reviews
Responding to negative reviews is crucial in managing your online reputation. Here’s how to approach it:
- Stay Calm: Read the review carefully and respond calmly. Avoid reacting defensively.
- Acknowledge: Recognize the customer’s concerns. Showing empathy can go a long way.
- Offer a Solution: Address their specific issues and suggest a way to make things right. This shows you’re willing to resolve problems.
- Take it Offline: If it’s complex, invite them to discuss the matter privately, like through email or a phone call. This can prevent further public negativity.
- Follow Up: Check if the customer is satisfied with the solution. It demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction.
By handling negative reviews thoughtfully, you can turn unhappy customers into loyal ones. It also shows potential customers that you’re attentive and committed to quality service.
3. Monitor Brand Mentions
Monitoring brand mentions is crucial for keeping an eye on what people are saying about you online. Here’s how you can stay on top of it:
- Use Tools: There are many online tools available that can alert you whenever your brand is mentioned. This helps you track conversations across the web.
- Check Social Media: People often talk about brands on social platforms. Regularly check these sites to see what’s being said about you.
- Listen to Feedback: Whether it’s positive or negative, feedback is valuable. It gives you insight into how your brand is perceived.
- Engage with Your Audience: When you find mentions, engage in the conversation. Thank people for positive mentions and address any concerns in negative ones.
- Learn and Adapt: Use what you learn from monitoring to improve your business. It’s a way to make changes that your customers want to see.
By keeping an eye on brand mentions, you can manage your online reputation more effectively. It allows you to react quickly and positively to what people are saying about you.
4. Be Active on Social Media
Being active on social media is a crucial strategy for managing your online reputation. Here’s how you can make the most of it:
- Post Regularly: Keep your profiles updated with fresh content. Consistency keeps your audience engaged and informed.
- Engage with Followers: Respond to comments, messages, and mentions. Interaction shows you’re attentive and care about your community.
- Share Positive Stories: Highlight positive reviews, customer stories, and achievements. It’s a way to boost your brand’s image naturally.
- Be Authentic: Show the human side of your brand. Authenticity builds trust and strengthens your connection with your audience.
Active social media presence not only enhances your reputation but also provides a platform for direct communication with your customers, allowing you to shape your brand’s narrative effectively.
5. Keep Consistent Branding
Maintaining consistent branding across all online platforms is crucial for managing your online reputation effectively. Here’s how consistency can be achieved:
- Uniform Visuals: Use the same logo, color scheme, and fonts everywhere your brand appears online. This helps people recognize your brand quickly.
- Consistent Voice: Whether it’s fun and casual or professional and serious, keep your brand’s voice the same in all communications. This includes social media posts, replies, and even how you respond to reviews.
- Aligned Messages: Make sure the message you’re sharing is the same across all channels. Contradictory statements can confuse customers and harm your reputation.
- Update Regularly: Keep all your online profiles up-to-date with the latest information about your business. Outdated info can lead to mistrust.
- Monitor Your Presence: Regularly check how your brand is represented online. This can help you catch inconsistencies and correct them quickly.
By keeping your branding consistent, you create a reliable and trustworthy image that customers will recognize and trust no matter where they find you online.
6. Focus on Branded Keywords
Paying attention to branded keywords is an effective method in managing your online reputation. Here’s a straightforward approach to make it work:
- Identify Your Keywords: Know the specific words or phrases closely related to your brand that people are likely to search for.
- Monitor Regularly: Keep an eye on these keywords. Tools like Google Alerts can help you stay updated on new mentions.
- Optimize Content: Use these branded keywords in your online content. This makes your positive content more visible in search results.
- Address Negative Mentions: If you find negative content associated with your keywords, work on a strategy to counteract it with positive content.
By focusing on branded keywords, you enhance your visibility in search results, ensuring that when people look for your brand, they find positive and relevant information.
7. Regularly Update Your Business Listings
Keeping your business listings up-to-date is an essential strategy for managing your online reputation. Here’s how to do it effectively:
- Check Your Details: Regularly review your listings on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, and others to ensure information is accurate.
- Update Often: Whenever there are changes in your business, such as new hours, location, or contact details, update them promptly.
- Add Fresh Content: Post new photos, special offers, or events to your listings to keep them engaging and current.
- Monitor Reviews: Keep an eye on what customers are saying in your business listings and respond appropriately.
- Use Consistent Information: Ensure your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all listings to avoid confusion.
Accurate and fresh business listings not only help customers find you easily but also reflect a well-maintained and trustworthy brand image online.
8. Correct Choice of Influencers
Picking good influencers is smart. They can help show your brand in a good light to more people. Here’s what you should consider:
- Align with Your Brand: Pick influencers who share your values and appeal to your target audience. Their followers should be potential customers for your brand.
- Check Their Background: Look into their past collaborations and online behavior. Ensure there’s nothing that could harm your reputation.
- Engage Authentically: Collaborate with influencers who genuinely like your products or services. Authentic endorsements resonate more with audiences.
- Monitor Content: Stay involved in the content creation process. This ensures messages align with your brand’s voice and reputation goals.
- Evaluate Impact: After a campaign, assess the influencer’s impact on your reputation and sales. This helps you make better choices in the future.
With the right influencers, you can make your brand shine online. It’s a smart move for a better image.
9. Use Digital PR
Digital PR is a powerful tool to enhance your online presence. Here’s what it involves:
- Collaborate with Influencers: Partnering with social media influencers can get your brand in front of a larger, engaged audience.
- Press Releases: Share news about your business through online press releases. This can help you gain attention from media outlets and the public.
- Content Marketing: Create and share valuable content that resonates with your audience. This can include blogs, videos, and infographics.
- Social Media Campaigns: Use social media platforms to promote your brand and interact with your audience. Engaging campaigns can increase visibility and positive perception.
- Monitor Your Image: Keep an eye on how your brand is mentioned in the digital space. This can help you address any negative mentions quickly.
Digital PR not only spreads the word about your brand but also helps in building a positive image online. It’s about creating a buzz that leads to a better reputation.
Media Channels for Digital Reputation Management
Managing your digital reputation involves using different types of media channels. Each one plays a special role in how people see your brand online. Let’s break down what these channels are and how they help.
- Paid Media Advertisement means you pay to get your message out there. This includes ads on Google and Facebook or banners on websites. It’s like buying a billboard but online.
- Earned Media is when others talk about your brand without you paying them. This could be a news article, a review from a customer, or a mention by an influencer. It’s great because it shows people like your brand enough to talk about it for free.
- Shared Media is mainly about social media. It’s when you and your customers share content on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. It’s a two-way street where both you and your audience can share what you like.
- Owned Media is anything your brand controls, like your website, blog, or email newsletter. It’s your home base online, where you get to tell your story your way.
Each of these channels offers a unique way to build and protect your brand’s reputation online. By using a mix of paid, earned, shared, and owned media, you can create a strong and positive presence on the internet.
Types of Digital Reputation Management Software
Digital reputation management software helps businesses keep track of what people are saying about them online. These tools make it easier to see reviews and feedback so you can respond quickly and keep a good image.
- Yext Reviews: Introduced to help businesses manage their online listings and reviews across various platforms. Yext Reviews makes it simple to monitor and reply to reviews, ensuring your business information is accurate everywhere.
- Reputation: This software was created to give businesses a comprehensive view of their online reputation. It collects feedback and reviews from multiple sources, allowing companies to analyze and improve their startup customer experience.
- Podium: Podium focuses on improving customer interactions through messaging and online reviews. It helps businesses collect more reviews and communicate with customers more effectively, enhancing the overall customer experience.
- BirdEye: Launched to provide businesses with tools for review management, customer surveys, and listings management. BirdEye helps companies collect feedback, understand customer sentiment, and improve their online presence.
- Reviews.io: This platform allows businesses to collect and manage customer reviews easily. It supports gathering authentic reviews directly from customers to boost trust and credibility online.
These software were introduced as businesses realized the importance of online reputation in attracting and retaining customers. They offer features like review management, customer feedback collection, and online presence optimization to help businesses maintain a positive image online.
ORM and SEO Working Together
Online reputation management (ORM) and search engine optimization (SEO) are important for any online business. They work together to help your business look good and be easy to find on the internet.
ORM takes care of your business image online. It helps manage what people see about you, like good reviews and positive news. If there’s anything bad, ORM tries to fix it by making sure there’s more good stuff out there about you.
SEO makes your website show up higher in search results. When people search for something related to your business, you want to be at the top of those search results. SEO uses keywords and other techniques to help with that.
When you use ORM and SEO together, you make sure that when people find your business online, they see good things. SEO helps people find you, and ORM makes sure what they find is positive. This can make more people want to use your business.
If there are bad reviews or negative information about your business, ORM works to make this less visible. It does this by creating positive content that shows up higher in search results. SEO helps this positive content rank better, so it’s the first thing people see instead of the negative.
Conclusion
Online Reputation Management (ORM) is an essential component of any digital strategy. It serves as a proactive measure to maintain a positive online presence, ensuring that your brand is viewed favorably by consumers and stakeholders alike.
ORM is not merely about addressing negative feedback but also about fostering a strong, affirmative online identity that draws in customers. This approach not only enhances your brand’s digital footprint but also contributes to its long-term success.
As we navigate the complexities of the digital landscape, it’s clear that investing in ORM is not just beneficial but necessary. By prioritizing your online reputation, you’re setting the stage for sustained growth and a robust brand image.
FAQs Related to ORM
How does Online Reputation Management improve business?
It boosts customer trust, attracts more business, and manages negative feedback, leading to a stronger, more positive brand presence online.
Can small businesses benefit from Online Reputation Management?
Absolutely! Small businesses can see significant benefits, as a positive online reputation helps attract more customers and build trust in local markets.
How often should I check my online reputation?
Regular monitoring is crucial. Ideally, review your online reputation weekly to address any negative feedback promptly and acknowledge positive reviews.
Is responding to negative reviews necessary?
Yes, responding to negative reviews shows that you value customer feedback and are committed to improving their experience, which can positively impact your reputation.
Can Online Reputation Management remove negative online content?
While it's challenging to remove negative content, ORM strategies can help bury it under positive content, making it less visible to the public.