In today’s interconnected digital landscape, a brand’s online presence is everything. Individuals and companies excel and fail based on how consumers perceive them. That’s why online reputation management is so important to brand success. We often talk about the importance of SEO and other aspects of digital marketing, and have touched on reputation management. Now, let’s delve into this vital part of our marketing services.
What Is Online Reputation Management?
Online reputation management (ORM) is a two-fold practice involving both the monitoring of your reputation and the actions you take to influence how people perceive your brand. This includes,
- Monitoring reviews of your business and encouraging customers to leave reviews.
- Tracking news or other information for mention of your brand and industry
- Searching for comments and posts about your company on social media
- Responding to comments online
- Building brand recognition and trust through social media and other online forums
Think of ORM as your company’s way of getting ahead of and controlling your story.
The Importance of Online Reputation Management
A strong, steady focus on online reputation management offers multiple benefits to companies.
- Build your brand’s credibility and raise awareness. Blog posts, informative social media posts, and expert appearances all help you establish who you are as a brand and help you stand out. They also help build your reputation.
- Attract employees who will stay with your company. When a brand has a good reputation, it’s easier to attract talented candidates and reduce employee turnover.
- Improve marketing efforts. A good reputation boosts your marketing efforts in ways that are hard to quantify but do still show in metrics. When people view your company favorably, they’re more likely to engage with and share your posts and respond to advertising.
- Keep mistakes and missteps from hurting your brand. No one is perfect, and mistakes can happen in customer interactions. Good ORM will keep these mistakes from harming your overall image and help you rebuild trust and credibility.
Dos and Don’ts for Online Reputation Management
As beneficial as online reputation management can be, there are right and wrong ways to handle it. Here are a few of our best practices to help brands excel in their ORM efforts.
- Do ask for feedback. Feedback allows you to know both what is working and what needs work. Asking for feedback also demonstrates to your customers that you listen, which builds trust.
- Do create a profile for online reviews. You should maintain a Google Business Profile for people to leave reviews. Depending on your specific industry, you may also want to maintain profiles on sites like Yelp, Facebook, Home Advisor, and other industry-specific sites as well.
- Respond professionally to negative reviews when it is appropriate. You don’t need to respond to every negative review. However, sometimes, responding to them can help you resolve a problem and repair the damage the review caused to your reputation. People like to see companies own up to their mistakes and fix them.
- Don’t stress yourself over negative reviews. Often, a company that only has 5-star reviews is a red flag, and most people aren’t afraid of a few negative reviews. If the reviews don’t reflect incompetence or negligence on your part, a couple of complaints won’t harm your reputation too much and will demonstrate authenticity.
- Don’t manipulate reviews. This includes buying reviews, but that isn’t the only way you can manipulate reviews. Don’t take actions that would discourage people from leaving bad reviews if they’re unhappy, and don’t try to have a review removed just because you don’t like it (however, reviews that are obviously harassment or bad faith should always be reported).
Get Ahead of Your Story
Media Components can help you build and market your brand. Whether you’re an entrepreneur starting out, a small business, or a large company, we have digital marketing solutions we can tailor to your needs. Contact us today.
