Navigating the World of Online Reputation Management
If people like you, they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they will do business with you.
Online Reputation Management (ORM) is a multi-faceted approach that businesses engage in, to establish and maintain a positive perception of their brand and to prevent and resolve any issues that might aim to hamper brand reputation. Online presence in today’s digital age is critical to connect to consumers as it is the most sought-after business channel these days. Building credibility, trust and a solid market position requires consistent effort and ORM strategies are a key towards taking these steps in a powerful brand-building exercise. Simultaneously, eliminating negative impact is the other, rather more proactive side of the ORM coin. Both need equal attention and persistent work. Let’s explore how.
Do’s
Generate high quality content
Well researched niche content is key to attract visitors who turn to potential customers. Build infographics, videos, blog posts on your brand website that have updated information. Choose a tone of voice or a brand voice keeping your target audience in mind. Be it casual, respectful, encouraging, assertive, humble or bold, remember to integrate your brand’s mission in your content while doing so and communicate it effectively to your readers. Consistency and commonality in your advertising content can take you a long way.
Media
Featuring your brand through paid media is another way to engage and expand loyal customer base. Social media ads, Google ads or promotions by influencers land you in highly relevant locations and increase visibility. Shared media viz. any content that is posted about your brand on social media platforms, either by you or by someone else, is highly impactful too. Be watchful of unfavorable feedback, complaints or low ratings. Address them immediately to ensure damage control before they hurt the brand. Add a dash of humor, respond appropriately and convert negative publicity in your favor to improve brand image. Allen Solly pulled this off recently when a user informed them of a billboard typo. Their social media managers turned this around with a hilarious reply and netizens couldn’t help hurting their bellies with a hearty laugh, all in favor of the brand!
SEO - Search Engine Optimisation
Applying best SEO practices is crucial to online reputation management. Using targeted keywords in title tags, meta descriptions and H1 tags and building backlinks helps improve visibility. Additionally, you can pen guest posts on related topics on other websites from the industry. Use Google Analytics to identify branded keywords that will have maximum impact and reach.
Encourage positive reviews
Positive feedback can be a huge boost to your business. Encourage happy customers to leave a great review. Promote positive content like testimonials prominently on your website. Share these positive reviews further on your social media handles and give a big shout out to your reviewer. Any sort of organic coverage i.e. the one that happens without any intervention on your part is a positive sentiment that must reach a larger audience.
Conduct regular online reputation audits
Make it a regular exercise to find out how customers are viewing and talking about your brand. Manage a Google Business Profile and review it in an incognito browser window. Study the results appearing on page one and see the sites that you can control like social media platforms, as also third-party sites that you cannot control. Search how online communities and review sites are portraying your brand. Put the right people in charge of the right channels and have appropriate response templates (e.g. responses to emotional or unfavorable reviews, thank you testimonials etc.) ready for FAQ’s or to handle negative comments.
Don't
Do not ignore feedback
No brand is spared from negative feedback once in a while. Be prepared for and to deal with it. Neutralize negative comments by responding in a playful tone, fixing any genuine bugs if pointed out and by owning up to any discrepancies. If ignored, such stories can quickly turn into a reputation nightmare.
Do not delete any unfavorable comments
Deleting the voice of those who are not in favor can further tarnish your brand’s image. Trust will eventually erode and you will lose out on your fan base. Use such trolls to address underlying issues and fix them.
Do not post explosive content
Controversial and offensive content can come back to haunt you. Rather, engage in inclusive communication through your posts to which your target audience can relate. ORM is all about a true connect to build a loyal customer bank.
Never engage in online squabbles
Best way to attract the wrong attention! Indulging in arguments online can quickly escalate into a disaster for the brand and can badly hamper its image.
Effective strategies for monitoring, responding to, and mitigating online reputation risks and challenges
- Use effective social media monitoring tools like Google Alerts to get notifications as soon as your brand name pops up online.
- Social Media Listening Tools help you analyze brand mentions on social media platforms. Listen and Act!
- Analyze the collected data track down potential issues, if any.
- Develop a prompt and apt response mechanism and nip potential threats in the bud.
- Proactive steps towards mitigating negative content is most crucial in ORM for one negative review or a troll can spiral into a viral nightmare and render all constructive efforts taken earlier, futile.
- Learn from competitors. Keep a hawk’s eye on their ORM strategies; learn to differentiate your brand from them!
