August 20, 2018
The internet is the new first impression and unfortunately, you don’t need to be present to have your brand judged. In fact, two out of three people see the internet as the most reliable source of information about a person or a business. That means it’s imperative you always know what’s going on.
Maintaining a good online reputation is crucial to your continued success and positive return on investment (ROI). That’s where online reputation management comes in. Often referred to as “ORM,” it is simply the act of making sure your business is seen in a healthy light. This starts with actively participating and respecting the online community that surrounds your brand. ORM can include:
Basically, anywhere online where people can actively say positive or negative things about your brand.
To avoid the bad stuff, consider some of these tactics:
Never underestimate the intelligence of the modern consumer. You should always be focused on creating good and targeted content that offers something of value to your visitors. If your content has poor grammar or is overstuffed with keywords just to get a ranking, consumers will know.
Once people have judged your content as poor quality, they won’t be coming back to your site. There are simply too many options out there, so consider that before you publish anything less than excellent. Quality content always takes the cake.
Although you should never stuff your content with keywords, you shouldn’t totally ignore search engine optimization (SEO). That would put you on the last page of Google. Therefore, it’s a dance between quality and technique. There is no shame in optimizing all your online content so that the most people will see it. The more visitors, the higher your credibility as a brand. That means stellar ORM!
How will you ever know a consumer is dissatisfied if you don’t listen? Stats have consistently demonstrated that 14% of consumers expect a response on Twitter “immediately” and 65% expect a response within two hours. If you miss that window, you might be getting a bad review you can never remove. This will have a negative effect on your reputation, causing fewer people to visit your site and a subsequent drop in ROI.
Therefore, you should be practicing active social listening/monitoring to ensure you pick up on things immediately and can address them before anything escalates. Google Alerts is a great place to start if you want to know what people are saying about your brand in real-time.
It’s a free service and only requires a Gmail account to start setting up alerts. Then, when anyone mentions your brand (or selected keywords) you’ll get an email with the link. Voila! Now you can get things addressed immediately and manage your online reputation more efficiently.
When looking for a local business, 97% of people read online reviews. Online reputation management requires a continuous and consistent effort to ensure your brand is protected. Even still, sometimes people just aren’t happy. Always expect a little negativity. As long as you remain transparent and address any bad reviews in a quick and professional manner, future customers will see that.
Business is done in a digital world and consumers have more visibility than ever before. If you want to see a healthy return on investment, a little online reputation management is in order. It’s not hard. Simply pay attention, listen to your customers, and put out fires before they become infernos. As long as you are authentic and genuine, that’s the best your business can do and people will recognize the effort.
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