Imagine the internet as a large billboard. Everyone will be able to see what is posted about you, and/or your business. That is where Online Reputation Management (ORM) comes into play.
This is all about managing what is seen by the billboard.
ORM means having good information appear when people search for you. Not having to deal with the bad information. It is similar to being the director of your own online show.
Why does ORM matter?
Think of your online reputation as your digital handshake. First impressions do matter.
ORM monitors what is being stated about you online. It is about identifying the good, bad, and ugly.
After identifying it, then there is doing something about it—promoting the good and taking action against the not so good. It is your secret weapon to ensure your digital footprint is as clean as your Sunday shoes.
What is Online Reputation Management?
Online Reputation Management (ORM) is the process of determining how others view you, or your brand online. It is about monitoring what is being said about you; influencing public perception; and creating an environment in which the positive aspects of the online reputation outweigh the negative.
Individuals and organizations utilize ORM to build credibility; establish trust with consumers; and to have a strong digital presence.
Ultimately, ORM is about being true to yourself. Consumers wish to interact with brands that are genuine, open, and trustworthy. Therefore, developing and maintaining website content that reflects your values and mission statement is vital.
Positive sentiment in search results can attract customers; while negative sentiment may deter them from doing business with you. Proactively monitoring reviews; social media; and online mentions enables you to rapidly identify and resolve issues prior to them affecting your online reputation.
Maintaining a strong reputation is not solely about minimizing adverse publicity; it is about continuously reinforcing a favorable image. How your brand responds to consumer feedback; communicates with your audience; and presents itself online is the basis upon which many consumers will make purchasing decisions. Establishing and maintaining control over your digital footprint provides assurance that your reputation is a valuable asset to your organization rather than a liability.
How Important is Online Reputation Management?
Your online reputation can either build or destroy your business. Many consumers research products or services online prior to making a purchase decision. In fact, most consumers typically read reviews prior to selecting a product or service. A few negative reviews; low ratings; or both can result in consumers becoming apprehensive about a particular product or service. Organizations that fail to respond to negative comments or ignore unaddressed complaints may ultimately lose the confidence of consumers.
For instance, consider a restaurant with great food but horrible customer service. If numerous patrons express dissatisfaction with the restaurant’s service through negative online reviews, the restaurant’s online presence will suffer. Without an effective response to these complaints, the negative comments regarding the restaurant’s service will remain at the top of search results for extended periods.
Ultimately, fewer new customers will visit this restaurant, and the loss of revenue will occur due to poor customer service. This is a classic example of ORM failure, organizations failing to manage their online image through digital public relations.
However, a solid digital PR plan can reverse the situation. A rapid and responsive reaction to negative consumer feedback demonstrates a commitment to your customers’ satisfaction. Organizations can also utilize online reputation marketing to emphasize positive experiences and move negative publicity down in the search rankings. With the right strategy, along with organic coverage, organizations can alter consumer perception and restore credibility.
Organizations that ignore ORM will ultimately lose customers. However, organizations that proactively manage their online reputations will preserve their reputations and grow their businesses. Staying involved, addressing concerns, and establishing control over the tone of how your brand is perceived online are essential.
Consistent Branding and Content Development
Consistency is paramount to building a strong online presence. Your branding should resemble your website; social media; and search engine results. Consistently portraying your brand identity is crucial to developing recognition and trust with your customers.
Begin by clearly outlining your tone of voice and communication standards. Regardless of whether your brand is formal, casual, or authoritative, each post, article, and advertisement should reflect your brand identity. Utilizing branded keywords related to your business and/or industry will strengthen your brand association with search terms and enhance your brand visibility within Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
Additionally, content should be created with the intention of optimizing it for search engines. Creating effective title tags and meta descriptions will increase the likelihood of users clicking through to your page. Developing high-quality content that adheres to E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) will also improve your content’s search engine rankings and establish credibility.
Monitoring your brand mentions using tools such as Google Alerts and Reputation Management Tools will aid in tracking your brand mentions and allow you to refine your content accordingly.
High-quality backlinks from credible websites will also contribute to improved search engine rankings. When established and reputable websites link to your content, search engines perceive your brand as trustworthy. As you accumulate additional high-quality backlinks to your site, your online reputation will continue to improve.
Utilizing a consistent content development strategy will enable you to develop content that consistently conveys your brand message. No matter whether you are publishing a blog post; updating a website section; or sharing on social media, your content must consistently convey your brand message.
Using a consistent content strategy will not only aid in enhancing your search engine optimization (SEO), but will also strengthen your reputation and foster greater customer loyalty.
Promoting and Managing Online Reviews
Online reviews influence your online reputation. They determine how consumers perceive your business, and how visible your business is on Google and other review-based websites. While the more reviews you receive, the higher your visibility will be on search engine results pages, receiving reviews is a labor-intensive task.
Customers who are satisfied with your products or services may not leave reviews unless you ask them to. Promote your ability to provide feedback by creating an effortless review process. Follow-up emails; links to review your business on receipts; or offering a small discount code as a thank you for providing feedback can encourage customers to provide reviews. Some organizations reward their loyal customers with loyalty points to encourage them to write reviews; however, ensure you comply with the platform’s guidelines.
Managing reviews is equally important. Negative reviews will occur; however, they do not have to negatively affect your online reputation. Providing a thoughtful response to the negative review will transform the customer’s dissatisfaction into a positive experience.
Respond promptly to customer dissatisfaction; demonstrate responsiveness; apologize if necessary; and provide solutions. Demonstrating your willingness to listen and assist your customers will build trust and demonstrate to potential customers that you value them.
While your online reputation is visible on Google, reviews from external websites also matter. Track mentions; respond to consumer feedback; and continually be active. A well-structured review plan will build trust; improve ranking factors; and reinforce your brand identity.
Using Influencers in Online Reputation Management
Influencer marketing has significant power in influencing the direction of an organization’s online reputation. Consumers have increased levels of trust in influencers than in advertisements. When influencers reference a brand, their audience pays attention to the brand. This increases the awareness of a brand and reinforces credibility.
To achieve success in influencer marketing, the selection of appropriate influencers is critical. Organizations select influencers by employing an influencer discovery methodology to identify those whose values align with theirs. Additionally, organizations evaluate influencers to assess the level of engagement among their audiences and the degree to which they are authentic. Employing an influencer analytics tool will provide insight into the performance of your influencer campaigns and will enable you to measure their effectiveness.
Furthermore, organizations monitor brand mentions to identify how influencers have shaped perceptions. Social listening tools enable organizations to react rapidly to conversations. Analyzing competitor influencer strategies will provide insights into what works and what does not work for your organization.
Selecting the right influencers is critical. Organizations must carefully screen influencers to ensure that they are relevant to their brand and possess an audience of sufficient quality. Developing a media kit for influencers will provide them with a clear understanding of your brand’s objectives. Ensuring that influencers promote your brand on the correct platform(s) and utilizing the correct keywords will enable your messages to reach the intended audience.
Effectively engaging influencers means enabling them to develop authentic influencer-generated content. Their audience wants honest, unbiased opinions, not scripted advertisements. Developing a comprehensive influencer marketing plan will enable you to create a strong reputation; build trust; and maintain a competitive advantage over your competitors.
Online Media Channels
There are many ways that media channels impact how a person views your brand in online reputation management. The primary categories include paid media (Google Ads, PPC ads, social media ads, sponsored posts), earned media (third-party sources; e.g., review sites, online forums, and influencers), and owned media (your website, blog, and social media). All three types will allow you to have some level of control over your online image.
Paid media can be a very effective way to get positive content out there to customers and to push down negative results from appearing at the top of the page. However, paid media requires continuous investment.
Earned media is what other people say about you. Positive reviews and recommendations create a high level of trust with customers. Conversely, negative comments regarding your company can create a low level of trust with potential customers. By responding positively to unhappy customers, you may be able to gain back some of that trust. Also, encourage happy customers to write a review of your business.
Owned media is all about the content that you produce. Therefore, this would include your website, blog, and all of the social media pages that your business uses. Producing and publishing relevant content will keep your brand engaged with your target audience. It will also continue to drive down the negative search results.
Social media is another type of media channel. Social media is a platform where your customers and your business interact. If your business has a strong social media presence, you will be able to effectively manage your reputation. On the other hand, if something goes wrong, it could easily go viral, and you need to respond quickly to the issue.
Combining these different types of media will provide you with a comprehensive online reputation management strategy. Paid media will give you instant exposure, earned media will build credibility, and owned media will give you long-term control over your online image.
Tracking and Controlling Mentions of Your Brand
In order to manage your online reputation successfully, it is necessary to track what customers say about your business online.
As previously stated, even a single comment can create a significant amount of change in public perception of your business. Staying ahead of the conversation will assist you in protecting your reputation.
Using a brand monitoring app will enable your business to monitor mentions of your brand across multiple platforms including social media, blogs, and news sites. Regardless of whether you have a small business or large enterprise, having a monitoring system in place will ensure that you do not miss any important discussions regarding your company.
A negative review can rapidly become a problem as people tend to read and react to reviews quickly. For that reason, using a review management system to address customer complaints and concerns is essential.
Not only does this demonstrate that you value your customers’ feedback, but it is also a strategic opportunity to transform a complaint into a chance to showcase your customer service skills.
In addition to addressing customer complaints, many companies use sentiment tracking and SEO tools to measure how their customers view them and to increase their search engine optimization (SEO).
To establish credibility and draw new potential customers to your business, it is recommended that you regularly update the content on your company’s website, as well as stay current with the trends in your industry.
In addition to traditional reviews, brand monitoring applications are used by companies to capture unforeseen conversations that may otherwise go undetected. No matter if it is a viral post on Twitter, a forum topic, or an influencer mentioning your product, you need to respond as quickly as possible.
Companies who proactively utilize social media tools and engage with customer feedback build trust and loyalty with their customers. A thoughtful response along with transparency can convert a passive customer into a loyal advocate for your brand.
The Steps to Manage Your Online Reputation
Managing your online reputation requires planning and consistent effort. Below are eight steps to guide you in establishing and maintaining control over your online reputation.
1. Conduct an Online Reputation Audit
Conduct an online reputation audit by searching your name or your company’s name online. Review your Google Business Profile, review sites, and social media profiles. Utilize SEMrush to evaluate your ranking and mentions. Determine which content is positive and negative.
2. Claim and Optimize Your Online Profiles
Claim ownership of your Google Business Profile and other business listings. Ensure that your information is complete and updated, and add a professional profile picture to each listing. Monitor and reply to customer reviews.
3. Develop an Online Reputation Management Strategy
Develop a detailed plan outlining your online reputation management strategies and objectives. Establish goals for the number of reviews, social media engagement, and content published by your business. Establish policies for responding to both positive and negative customer feedback.
4. Track and Respond to Public Mentions of Your Company
Utilize tools such as Google Alerts or SEMrush to monitor your brand’s social media profiles and review platforms. Respond to all customer feedback in a timely and professional manner. When responding publicly, always maintain a polite demeanor.
5. Establish Communication Guidelines
Develop a plan outlining how to communicate with your customers and establish a set of guidelines for responding to customer feedback. Educate your employees on the best practices of communicating with customers and responding to reviews and online discussions.
6. Encourage Positive Reviews
Ask satisfied customers to write a review of your business on review platforms. Provide excellent service to your customers and follow-up with personal requests to obtain positive reviews. The more positive reviews you receive will outweigh the occasional negative review.
7. Create a Crisis Management Plan
Prepare a crisis management plan outlining how to respond to a negative article, a social media backlash, or a bad review. Establish an internal communication plan to inform your employees of how to handle crisis situations.
8. Create and Share Quality Content
Create and publish content on your blog, social media platforms, and through press releases. Consistently publishing quality content will reduce the likelihood of negative search results and enhance your credibility.
9. Remain Proactive and Adaptable
Reputation management is a continuing process. Periodically review your online reputation management plan and adjust it as needed based upon changes in the market and customer feedback.
By implementing these nine strategies, you will remain proactive in maintaining a positive online reputation and protecting your company’s brand image.
Conclusion
Your online reputation is a valuable resource. Protecting your online reputation will ultimately lead to increased customer acquisition, build trust, and protect your brand’s identity. To take control of your online reputation today, begin monitoring your online presence, responding to customer reviews, and creating positive content. Be proactive and make a good first impression online.
Would you like to learn more about managing your online reputation? Reach out to us at NewReputation for solutions tailored to meet your needs.