Online reputation management or ORM is when you actively keep an eye on social media and websites, to see if your brand name has been mentioned. You can do this to address any false comments or negative publicity about your brand.
People who are in charge of this online reputation management, mostly respond to negative comments. These comments are left by the customers online. If you don’t react to these comments on social media and traditional media stories, these comments can damage your company’s or your brand’s reputation.
For instance, the people who are in charge of the ORM team can address the content of the story. They can deliver a statement publicly. They can also upload a post on social media in response to these negative comments. Sometimes, these negative comments or posts are too insignificant for the PR department to handle. For example, a one-liner negative comment or a 1-star rating. However, if you do not deal with this in time, these small sparks can start a fire.
An effective online reputation management strategy can highly benefit your company. There are eight key rules for an efficient online reputation management strategy. They are as follows:
You should regularly keep an eye on your online reputation:
This is the first rule that you need to follow for an effective online reputation management system. You need to keep an eye on your online reputation regularly by using a personal search engine. You also need to search for your brand. You can make a list of all the sites that appear when you search for your brand. Then you can check their impression. If possible, go through the customer reviews as well. Reading the customer reviews will help you to understand what the customers think about your brand.
You should make your website more SEO- friendly:
The second rule of online reputation management is that you need to create your website and make it more SEO- friendly. To maintain the positive name of your brand, you need to develop and improve your website. To boost your sales, you need to make your website more SEO-friendly. SEO friendly means that a content is created in a way that helps the search engine rank it high. You can also provide all your brand’s information on that website. A business should always have an active approach.
You should always motivate and engage with positive reviews:
The third rule of online reputation management is that you need to motivate and encourage positive reviews. You also need to engage yourself with positive reviews. Online reviews always have a huge impact on the decision-making of the customer. Positive reviews always influence the consumers to make the purchase. To maintain the name of your brand, you need to engage with the customers. You also need to encourage them to give feedback on their positive experiences. This will provide a good reputation for your brand or product.
You must handle negative reviews in a proper manner:
The fourth rule of online reputation management is that you handle negative reviews very carefully. Negative reviews can damage your company’s reputation and can have a direct impact on your sales. You should never ignore a negative review. First of all, you need to take note of the negative reviews. Then you need to address the problems of your consumers. While addressing the problems or engaging with the customers, always be polite. Also, apologize to the customers for their bad experiences and handle the issue very delicately.
You should also create a proper ORM strategy:
The fifth rule of online reputation management is that you set up your ORM goals. You should always be clear and precise while communicating with your customers about your brand. You also need to make a list of the tasks based on your priority. Be practical about your online reputation management approach.
Create valuable content for your brand:
Lastly, you need to create valuable content for your brand. This content will play a vital role in your brand positioning. It will also help you to manage your company’s reputation. You need to regularly update appropriate content about your brand. Your content influences the customer’s view of your brand.
You can successfully continue to keep a positive online image for your company if you just follow the above-mentioned rules. Online reputation management plays an important role in the business because most of the business is done online, and nowadays customers always check the online reviews before buying any products.
