A decade ago, PR and reputation management were considered matters of concern for big companies and celebrities. The smaller brands didn’t seem to care much; their brand perception was a one-way street, with no room for feedback.
Even if they ignored the business’ products and services, their perception had little effect. Nowadays, we live in an era of an active audience, one in which people express their opinions about brands and services online all the time on several platforms.
71% of consumers start their customer journey with a Google search, which means that no company can afford to appear online reputation management untrustworthy and untrustworthy on the SERPs.This comprehensive guide on Online Reputation Management for businesses of any size and industry can assist digital marketing professionals in discovering effective methods to manage their brand’s online reputation to avoid any potential issues.
Introduction of Online Reputation Management
If you have a website, you’ve probably heard of Google. You may not know that Google is the largest search engine globally or that they are also the most powerful online advertising platform. They have over 1.5 billion monthly visitors and an estimated $60 billion in revenue per year.
If you’re a business owner, then it makes sense to make sure your site ranks well on Google. Google has been a dominant force on the web for years. They dominate the internet, and their success has been built on a simple premise: they make sure people find what they want. But that doesn’t mean that they are always right. There are many ways to optimize your website for Google, but some can be expensive, while others can be free. That is why I have created this list of free SEO tools to help you optimize your website for search engines like Google.
Reputation Management Online: How It Works
The overall focus of ORM is to monitor and manage your brand’s reputation across the web, to ensure that you are being represented properly and that potential customers have a positive perception of who you are and what you do.
However, multiple channels are part of Online Reputation Management, and as embracing all of these channels may seem overwhelming at first, let’s think of them as PESOs. You can read more about this topic here.
Online Reputation Management Using Paid Media
A paid media campaign consists of all online content promoting your brand (website, services, etc.) in exchange for payment. It includes Google Ads, social media ads, sponsored posts, and influencer marketing channels.
ORM allows you to make your own placements, which is a fairly straightforward process. You need to carefully check if any of your competitors are advertising “against” your brand.
However, most paid media platforms have strict guidelines to prevent such behavior, and a simple complaint can resolve the negative sentiment implications.
Earned Media
You get media coverage for free from external platforms known as earned media. Examples include:
- External articles,
- Press coverage
- Blogs and Vlogs
- Forums
- Third-party listings for industry-specific products (Glassdoor, Capterra, and Trustpilot) fall into this category).
The reviews left by customers on Google My Business would also be treated as earned media because you cannot control them. All businesses should emphasize earned media; it creates a positive outlook and builds trust with customers online.
Shared Media
A business’s accounts across a variety of social media sites function as the online version of its business card, in addition to your website
If you fail to address customer complaints, respond to negative comments on Twitter, and have a low star rating on Facebook, you seriously harm your company’s reputation and risk losing customers. You should take care of what is happening on your Twitter wall in the same way you would care for your brick-and-mortar establishment.
You must also monitor how your brand is being mentioned within other accounts and take action against those that negatively portray your brand.