Everything you need To Know about Online Reputation Management

Ever thought of deleting embarrassing mistakes related to your company from the web? Ever searched Google to find out ways to delete negative feedbacks of the customers regarding your product or service? Negative reviews can make or break your brand reputation and managing it is important, irrespective of the size of your business.

As we become a part of virtual world and spend a few hours every day on the web, we realize that there are both positives and negatives to social media oversharing. In fact, in some cases, we have very little or no control over the way we or our brand appears on the Internet.

Many marketing executives are either absolutely unaware of ORM or fail to understand how poor online reputation may harm their sales and brand reputation.

Here’s is a basic guide to online reputation management, what is it all about, and top 3 things that you need to know to manage your e-reputation.

Online Reputation Management (ORM): Introduction and Importance

In simple words, ORM is a process of influencing the reputation of a person or a brand on the Internet. It is basically used to manage search results for queries related to a brand, customer feedbacks, and negative reviews on social media. Social networking websites can work wonders to your brand sales; however, one negative review can dissuade many would-be prospects, this is where ORM plays a significant role. It helps you manage feedbacks, know what customers think about a particular product or a service, and improve your brand image.

Also Read: 5 Online Reputation Management Mistakes You Can’t Afford To Make

3 Techniques to Manage Online Reputation on the Internet

A critical first step of managing online reputation is to understand exactly what is being said about your brand on social media websites and other forums. This can be done by identifying and monitoring hashtags related to your products, brand, employees, competitors, and conversations that are taking place on the web. After identifying and monitoring, here’s what you need to do –

Respond as soon as possible

If negative reviews or comments are left unchecked or unanswered, they not just spread like wildfire on social media; they also make you appear guilty. Make sure to respond to scandalous comment on your Facebook page within a few hours because it may be seen by thousands of people within the first couple of hours. Responding quickly is the best way to minimize the damage; however, make sure to come-up with an honest and professional response, instead of blaming someone else or giving imprudent responses.

Avoid deleting comments unless required

Delete a comment if it is racist, offensive, or imprudent because deleting negative comments can be perceived as if you are admitting guilt or covering up an issue. It is beneficial to respond to a comment, rather than deleting it. In fact, a research shows that one out of every 3 consumers who receive a satisfactory response from the retailer end up posting a positive review. Further to the aforesaid, around 34% customers end up deleting their negative reviews.

Publish high-quality content and guest post

Apart from social media feedbacks, comments, and negative customer feedbacks, another serious issue faced by business owners in the recent years has been managing negative reviews on Google’s search results. One way to tackle that is to publish high-quality content and guest posts. The more views your post gets, the better your chances of outranking negative reviews or articles.

Final Thoughts

Online reputation management is not just another marketing technique gaining popularity among a few businesses; it is an important part for anyone looking to protect their brand reputation.  If you invest time and money into ORM, it will not just increase business sales but will also decrease the chances of your online reputation being tarnished due to negative customer feedbacks and reviews.

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