Nowadays, the ‘customer’ is considered as a ‘God’. The customer of today is much smarter than the customer of yesterday; he knows how to make an optimal and informed decision. With the extensive competition amongst the brands, people now express more and expect the best of online reputation management services for their queries.
According to the researchers, 71% of consumers prefer searching about products the services on Google before availing of them
So with such development, What Should brands Do?
Apart from providing the best products and services, maintaining one’s reputation as a brand is equally important. Managing feedback has become more crucial than anything.
Today, no business can afford to have a bad reputation or trust issues amongst their potential customers, especially on platforms such as Google.
Therefore, to manage such feedback, PR, and online reputation management services, we can bring to your plate an extensive guide to Online Reputation Management(ORM):
What is Online Reputation Management (ORM)?
Online Reputation Management or ORM, means to maintain, manage, and create a Brand’s reputation over various platforms such as Search engines, websites, food delivery apps, feedback apps, review sites, etc.
The aim is to create a positive position and perception of the brand in the eyes of its customers. It is not just about the words but also how well a brand addresses the problems and then works upon them.
Therefore, strategizing problem-solving is equally important as addressing them.
Benefits of Online Reputation Management (ORM)?
Online Reputation management is considered very important because it has a big impact on the buying decision of customers. Nearly every second customer relies on online search and feedback before making a decision to buy the product.
It is the online version of word-of mouth for handling public relations.
For example The America Airlines Disaster in the PR industry and The Johnsons’ and Johnsons; product disaster.
The benefit is that more than 70% of consumers consider a brand reliable and come back if the complaint is handled well enough.
Managing one’s reputation is the prime advantage that it gains your more permanent customer base.
According to the researchers and reports, more than 5% of the new customers every day come from reputation management that has many referrals.
Online Reputation Management also helps in increasing the local SEO. it is crucial in the overall ranking factor i.e. 9.8%. It also improves organic searches by 7.2%. Online Reputation Management(ORM) plays a major role in branding, tunnel PR, and increasing customer loyalty.
‘How Brands Should Manage Online Reputation in 2023’
How Does Online Reputation Management(ORM) Work?
Online Reputation Management (ORM) is about maintaining the brand’s reputation across different platforms and ensuring the brand’s true identity is maintained all over. The major goal is to always leave the best of an impression on the minds of customers, to make them a permanent one.
To accomplish such complicated tasks companies need to take the following online reputation management strategy especially if you’re talking about the tiring times in 2023:
It is mainly about managing 4 key areas:
- Paid Media
- Earned Media
- Shared Media
- Owned Media
1. Paid Media
Paid media refers to the Paid Media Management incorporated by the companies to manage google ads, sponsored posts, promotion through social media d influencers, and social media ads.
It involves a form of payment to maintain a position in the consumer’s mind and check if there’s any negative marketing against one’s brand. Paid Media does not involve any negative PR because it has strict guidelines to avoid price wars and strategic wars amongst brands.
Types of Paid Media:
- Display Ads: pop-ups, wallpaper ads, video ads
- Social Media Marketing
- Search Engine Marketing
- Offline Ads
- Video Ads
- Podcasts
2. Earned Media
Earned Media means the form of publicity or exposure to brand witnesses through means other than paid advertising.
- External articles
- Press coverage
- Blogs and Vlogs
- Forums
- Review sites: Glassdoor, Google Review, etc.
3. Shared Media
Shared Media refers to content and posts shared by the brands on their cost-effective social media PR platform wicked up. Platforms used in Shared Media Include Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, etc.
2021 was a year of Shared Media, with millions of people switching to social media every day for everything shared media has gained a lot of popularity.
Therefore if you are planning to manage your brand’s online reputation in 2023 you have got the hint!
4. Owned Media
Owned Media is the form of media a brand or company owns online, the most common example of owned media is the company’s official website. Owned media refers to the online footprint a company has and all over, which implies the potential of the company to grow and reputation management.
Following are the examples of owned media:
- Company blog
- Newsroom
- Self-hosted videos
- Webinars
- Email marketing campaigns
Apart from managing the 4 key areas:
Paid Media, Shared Media, Earned Media, Owned Media.
There are several other techniques as well to manage Online Reputation Management(ORM) of Brand, like:
1. Brand Monitoring and Auditing
- Monitor your brand’s position by the means of key channels
- You can set up alerts and get to know everything
- Set up a Social Searcher
- Brand Mentions
- Monitor your social media reviews, forums, and review sites – dedicate a team member to use something like Review trackers.
2. Have your Own Reputation Management Strategy
- Have predefined goals
- Set up the limitation before-hand
- Prioritize tasks
3. Have a Crisis Management Strategy
- Dominate SERPs for your company’s Google search
- Mange the negative PR, Reviews On various platforms
- Always respond and act upon Online Reviews
4. Manage Your Personal Reputation
- Look for your names in the Google set images, videos and see if you are featuring them
- Set your websites and channels to private and audit them.
- Always manage your LinkedIn recommendations
- Have a personal blog or a website.
Conclusion:
Online reputation management in the digital marketing world is the bottom line of communication of a brand, flowing from them to the customers. It creates a platform for hearing the customer valuable feedback, consent, and voice. Therefore Online Reputation Management (ORM) is as important as any other marketing strategy a brand holds. The aim is to weather through all the drawbacks and win the trust of the customers by handling the negative PR by fixing all the problems and issues.
