Every brand wants to make a good impression online, but having a premium website or social media presence is not enough.
These days, everyone has an opinion on just about everything, and customers are savvy enough to know when a brand is genuine, and when it’s hiding an ugly truth.
If your work gets a negative review or unfavorable media attention, it may feel like the end of the road.
But it is possible to change your brand perceptions, especially when you have safeguards in place to limit damage and deal with problems before they happen.
Managing your brand’s online reputation is not a one-time process, but investing in it as soon as possible can save you a lot of headaches in the future.
What is online reputation management?
The main focus of Online Reputation Management, or ORM, is to create a positive perception of a brand or business.
Every activity a brand engages in must be monitored and managed to help shape the opinions of current and future customers, ultimately making the business appear credible and trustworthy.
The relationship between ORM and SEO
We all know that customers are increasingly turning to search engines as they search for new products to buy or services to invest in.
So, ensuring that when searching for your brand, the best and most positive results are the ones that appear first is an essential part of any search management strategy.
What appears in top searches has a huge impact on how people think about your brand.
This is why you need to control these outcomes as much as possible, and take ownership of the message that is being shown to your audience.
ORM is a multi-channel approach to prevent and solve any problems that may harm your brand reputation.
Factors that contribute to ORM
While the mix each company uses to maintain its reputation online will vary, an ORM should include a combination of the following:
- owned media – Employee and customer stories, user-generated content (UGC), reviews, webinars, and brand-generated content.
- Paid media – Support social posts, lead generation, affiliate programs, and native ads.
- Acquired media – Media relations, influencer marketing and public relations.
- shared media – Community service and partnerships, co-branding campaigns, and organic social media posts.
Why is online reputation management important?
Although reputation management should be part of an ongoing approach to building a healthy brand online, many companies don’t act until the damage has already been done.
Narrative change
Redeeming your online reputation is very difficult.
Not only can a bad experience with your business stop a single customer from coming back to your brand again, but if they choose to leave a negative review on Google, Facebook, or elsewhere, you can see a rapid drop in sales.
When you don’t actively monitor your brand mentions and reviews circulating online about your company, you can quickly miss an opportunity to change the narrative before long-standing negative perceptions take hold.
A 2022 report by Khors found this 83% of customers say they feel more loyal to brands that respond to and resolve their complaints.
So, not only can quick action prevent new customers from being turned off, but you can also keep existing customers who are dissatisfied.
understand your customers
If you don’t have a finger on the pulse of chatter about your brand online, you could be spending thousands of dollars on new marketing campaigns that will fail at the first hurdle because you didn’t deal with the bigger issues sooner.
Messaging may be in stark contrast to issues raised by clients, coming across as insensitive and possibly insulting, rather than producing the positive impact you had hoped for.
Case progress
Remember, your online reputation lasts forever.
Countless companies and individuals have learned this the hard way.
Remember the viral interview with then BP CEO Tony Hayward days after the tragedy that saw 11 people die after the explosion at Deepwater Horizon? His statement, “I just want my life back” didn’t sit well, when the actual loss of life had occurred.
A mountain of backlash quickly engulfed BP’s online holdings, going so far as former President Barack Obama saying it “She wishes he could fire him. “
Without online reputation management, you can quickly end up in a losing situation.
However, by being proactive, you can control your brand story in search results and plan ahead for any potential issues.
How is online reputation management different from public relations?
While the terms “reputation management” and “public relations” are often used interchangeably, what they actually involve is very different.
Both can be used effectively as part of your overall branding strategy, but it’s important to understand the differences before investing in one or both options.
Where ORM focuses solely on brand needs and maintaining a positive image online, PR plays a more mutually beneficial role between the brand and other organizations, especially the media.
Public relations efforts can and should be aimed at improving the brand’s reputation in the public eye.
But the goal is usually to provide information about something more specific, like a new product or service.
Like other forms of advertising, PR is another direct marketing channel that brands can use to increase their visibility, both online and offline.
Although ORM and PR can work independently of each other, the pairing will help the business cover behind-the-scenes brand building (ORM) and public-facing marketing (PR).
When your brand encounters negative online, even with a powerful ORM management software, PR can also be used to post important updates or feedback via media to help address the issue.
Social media marketing and online reputation management
It’s nearly impossible for brands to control online reviews, and nowhere is this more evident than on social media.
Yes, dominating the search engine results pages (SERPs) with positive stories about your brand is an important part of an ORM.
But also effectively managing and responding to comments elsewhere across the Internet.
Staying active and participating in the social conversations about your brand is essential.
There are plenty of programs available to help you stay on top of this, including tools like MentionsedAnd BrandWatchAnd Social sproutAnd BuzzSumo.
Many of these offer sentiment analysis functionality, where you can easily follow whether your signals are skewed positively or negatively.
You can also monitor hashtags, mentions, or any live tags of your brand across multiple platforms.
With extensive monitoring, you will be able to respond quickly to any feedback you see coming in, and refer these individuals to the correct internal sources to resolve any issues as quickly as possible.
In conclusion
Conversations about your brand happen all the time, whether you know about it or not.
Online reputation management is one of the best ways to stay on top of this and ensure that everything said accurately reflects the image of the company you are looking to build and maintain.
A strategic ORM can make all the difference when it comes to attracting new customers to your business – and retaining existing ones.
Make a good impression and take back control of your brand story online.
More resources:
- What is a sprayer and how does it affect your brand reputation
- The do’s and don’ts of social media management
- How to Dominate Social Media Marketing: A Complete Strategy Guide
Featured image: Black Salmon/Shutterstock
