Like a plant needs the right balance of sunlight, water, and attention to grow, a brand or a company needs continuous nurturing and attention to detail to achieve success online. Neglecting the brand’s online reputation management is like falling behind the competitive edge.
With the widespread use of mobile phones, the Internet, PCs or tablets, consumers can share their thoughts, experiences, desires or complaints about the products and services they’ve used.
However, in an era when your reputation is your strongest asset, a single negative review, a viral comment, or an unmonitored social media post can spread faster than wildfire. So, what does it take to ensure the brand navigates through the online landscape?
Let’s uncover the secrets together…
Brief About Online Reputation Management
Too many academic and professional sources have proposed definitions of online reputation management. Larkin described reputation as a reflection of how well or how poorly different stakeholder groups view a commercial name. Since it’s the most important asset of a company, it should be managed well.
The main purpose of ORM isn’t just to hide negative press or reviews. Instead, its main goal is to build credibility, solid trust among customers, and cultivate long-term loyalty. Overall, it ensures that when a potential consumer searches for your business, they must find positivity, professionalism, and proof of values.
Top Channels
ORM is a comprehensive ecosystem that isn’t confined to a single platform. Today, it is about touching every platform your customers interact with. Here are the top channels where your brand’s reputation can be built, managed, and challenged occasionally in an online sphere:
- Google Reviews: It is one thing that all individuals run toward to check reviews about a brand. According to Bright Local (2024), 87% of consumers’ prior decision. Positive reviews improve visibility on SERPs, improve search rankings, and contribute to instant trust. At the same time, a negative review can make a big dent in your brand’s credibility.
- E-commerce Reviews: If your organization is product-based, then you will be selling them on Amazon, eBay, or your own website. It doesn’t matter where you are getting sales; customer reviews at the bottom impact consumer trust, sales, and your brand’s overall perception.
- News and Articles: Media outlets, PRs, or articles shape public perception faster than other channels. To maintain a positive perception, try to engage with media outlets, influencers, and bloggers to keep control over negative narratives and spread positive words about the brand.
- Social media: Social media platforms like Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter are influential channels for managing your online branding. ORM over social media involves managing with followers, monitoring mentions, and keeping an eye on complaints before they turn into negative narratives.
- Third-Party Review Sites: The market is full of third-party review sites, which allow customers to share what they actually feel. A positive review on such sites can make your brand popular, while a negative one can tarnish your image.
- Video Platforms: YouTube and TikTok offer opportunities to gain greater visibility. To ace your content game on such channels, create valuable, authentic content and engage with users to maintain a positive image.
Online Reputation Components
To create a reputable online branding, one should always start by observing when, how and why conversations about the company occur. By knowing them, organizations can guess if the consumers are satisfied. Therefore, the development of reputation and respectability in audiences demonstrates the company’s success.
To achieve a strong reputation in a digital environment, three indispensable factors are as follows:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
A solid Search Engine Optimization strategy is fundamental to online reputation management, and search engine websites are the leading source of information about a business. SEO enable users to find the information that is most relevant to what they are looking for. Amongst many search engines, Google is the most preferred and developed search engine. It processes an average of 40,000 search queries per second. It translates to over 3.5 billion Google searches per day, as well as 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide.
Meanwhile, since content is shared online, it tends to rank higher in search results. Now that the content attracts more attention, it is clicked more than other Internet content and ranks higher on SERPs.
Social Media
Today, every single company uses social media for multiple purposes. For instance, they use such platforms to promote their products or services, ensure customer satisfaction, and obtain feedback, suggestions, and thoughts. These channels provide direct speaking and communication opportunities with followers or supporters.
Quick Tip: Use social listening tools to keep track of what people are saying about your brand online.
Consumer Generated Media (CGM)
With the widespread use of different types of new media platforms, companies are not the only creators of company reputation; instead, consumers have started taking that charge. Client’s experiences, comments and complaints shared online play a huge role in establishing a company’s reputation.
In the past, dissatisfied customers used to report their anger to their relatives and friends, as there was no Internet to let others know. Today, customers can share their ratings, reviews, and negative customer service experiences with millions of people.
Reputation Management Tips for Businesses
Now that you have understood the importance of a strong brand reputation, you must be wondering what you can do to establish and preserve this.
- First things first, start providing quality products and top-notch services because nothing can redeem you long-term if a business fails to set or meet a benchmark.
- Secondly, do not panic when you see a negative comment. Handle them with patience by reverting to an individual asking about their problem and coming up with a solution.
- Authenticity is the key. So, try to be as transparent as you can by being open about any mistakes, taking accountability, and going beyond to rectify issues.
- Gently ask and encourage happy customers to leave positive feedback online because 80% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
- Maintain consistency across channels, especially on social media websites and SEO-optimized websites.
- Create detailed brand reputation guidelines, circulate them to concerned individuals, and establish a communication strategy.
- Invest in online branding analysis tools.
- Apply great SEO efforts with relevant content, updated content, improving the structure of the website, acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites, and more.
- Build a relationship with loyal customers.
Significance of Complaint Management for Overall Success
Doesn’t matter how reputable your business is; customer complaints are inevitable. Yes, you heard it right!
Even Roy H. Williams stated, “The first step in exceeding your customer’s expectations is to know those expectations”. Meanwhile, nothing can help companies understand customer expectations than their complaints. A loyal customer will definitely turn back when they feel heard.
People quickly comfort themselves when faced with uncertainty, regardless of the cause. It is common because self-preservation instincts are innate in everyone. In a similar way, businesses might refuse to look back in order to determine what went wrong and why. However, it is not a good idea to ignore your customer’s perception.
Plus, a quick and empathetic response to complaints shows your commitment to customer satisfaction and dedication to brand reputation. As a result, it can turn a frustrated customer into a loyal advocate.
Reputation Management Stats and Facts
We can spend all day discussing the significance of one’s online reputation, but sometimes it’s best to let the data do the talking. So, here are some important statistics and facts you must look out for further clarification of their impact on businesses:
- It only takes 5 to 7 impressions for a customer to recognise a brand or business.
- A Deloitte survey found that 90% of 300+ executives ranked reputation on top in terms of the most significant risk for companies.
- 90% of consumers mentioned that they will remain loyal to brands that share their values.
- 75% of online reviews are left on the Google search engine.
- 60% of consumers form an opinion about a brand after reading two or three reviews.
- After Facebook, 34% of consumers turn to Instagram for reviews.
Conclusion
Your online reputation is more important than ever. And, the fact that online reputation management isn’t a quick fix, it’s a long-term investment. All the efforts you put into monitoring, improving, and protecting your reputation online will pay off in the form of increased trust, customer loyalty, and ultimately, business growth.
At iSearchSolution, we understand how powerful online branding is, and we’re here to help you build a reputation that survives. Till then, don’t let your business’s reputation be an afterthought; give it some time, nurture it, protect it, and see it grow.