Unfortunately, what happens on the internet stays on the internet, and one error can ruin a business’s well-crafted image. To protect and preserve a brand, online reputation management services are more vital than ever.
Whether a business deserves it or not, a poor reputation can wreck a company’s sales or valuation. No company is immune, and public relations disasters have cost major brands such as United, BP, Samsung, and Pepsi billions of dollars.
Discover why you need the services of a reputation management firm to establish, protect, or refurbish your online image.
Key Takeaways:
- Online reputation management goes beyond the services of typical public relations to safeguard your digital image with intelligent strategies.
- ORM helps companies keep a positive reputation with strategies on earned, paid, and owned media.
- An ORM firm helps by auditing your reputation, creating a strategy, encouraging positive reviews, and managing negative feedback, among other techniques.
What Are Online Reputation Management Services?
Online reputation management services are just what they sound like; a skilled firm helps you improve how people view your brand in the digital realm.
The benefits may seem obvious, but the return on investment of hiring an expert is immense. You gain more trust and authority with your desired audience and more sales as a result.
A quick note: ORM is not the same as public relations. PR firms work online and offline to communicate a message and build relationships with the public.
Often, you are better off hiring dedicated online reputation management services with the requisite technical resources. At a minimum, ensure any PR firm you hire has sufficient capabilities to handle the online side of things.
When Do You Need Online Reputation Management?
ORM agencies do more than restore the image of companies that make significant public faux pas. Discover various instances where ORM guidance can benefit an organization.
1. Building a Brand Image
If your company is just getting on its feet, online reputation management services can help you create a strong brand image. When you’re new or simply new to a market, you have an uphill battle to convince prospects to become leads and customers.
Most shoppers check out a company online before purchasing. Work with an ORM agency to put some shine on your brand because you’re only new once.
2. Preserving a Positive Reputation
Everyone knows that you can ruin a good reputation in an instant, and the marketplace is not very forgiving. A brand that was once on top of the heap can die a death by a thousand cuts as negative reviews begin to snowball.
Online reputation management services give you the feedback you need to understand your customers and address their complaints promptly.
3. Overcoming Poor Public Perception
Of course, you and your team are only human, so someone in your company is going to make a blunder. How much damage those mistakes cost you often depends on your response.
In business, your reaction can be worse than the error. Online reputation management services are a must-have when your brand experiences a character assassination or a deserved thumping.
What 3 Areas of Media Do Online Reputation Management Services Address?
ORM helps you address three key areas of your media presence:
- Earned: Third-party exposure that you don’t pay for, such as press coverage, forums, reviews, and blogs from other websites
- Paid: Ads, posts, and promotions that you pay for to feature your brand
- Owned: Media you control, such as your blog and website
Owned media is critical to ORM because you can organically generate positive views and web traffic. These efforts create enduring goodwill that withstands negative publicity.
Success with owned media requires following search engine optimization best practices so you can create a positive narrative.
What Do Online Reputation Management Services Do To Help You Improve Your Brand Narrative?
Online reputation management services use various tactics to help direct the narrative around your company.
Conducting an Audit
The first step in discovering what to do with your online reputation is to understand where you stand. Your reputation management firm will use monitoring tools to give you an objective look at an outsider’s perspective of your brand.
Formulating a Strategy
With the data from your audit in hand, you can devise a plan of attack to boost your reputation. The consulting firm can help you figure out which tactics have the greatest effects for short and long-term gains.
Creating Outstanding Content
With a consistent content marketing output, your company keeps a positive narrative running that overwhelms any negativity.
Encouraging Positive Reviews
Online reputation management services help you take a strong offense against negativity by encouraging customers to leave favorable reviews.
Of course, you want clients to be honest, but you can motivate satisfied customers to share their stories with the right incentives. Quick responses of appreciation show you care about what your clients think.
Managing Negative Feedback
Unfortunately, negative comments can do more harm than positive reviews can do good. ORM works with you to respond to those reviews in a sincere manner that mitigates the damage.
When Should You Start Using Online Reputation Management Services?
You cede a level of control over your reputation once you put your offerings out in public, so you always need ORM. With online reputation management services, you can steer the discussion around your brand for continuous success.
Michael Brenner is a keynote speaker, author and CEO of Marketing Insider Group. Michael has written hundreds of articles on sites such as Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and The Guardian, and he speaks at dozens of leadership conferences each year covering topics such as marketing, leadership, technology and business strategy.