Blog Post Online Reputation Management: Key to Healthy Online Presence
What is ORM?
The reputation of a business is very important for attracting customers, making sales, and in-process generate profits. Think of an ancestral business such as a bakery that is still running. Their reputation was built by people, by their word of mouth which helps them run for years. Now, how do you maintain your reputation in today’s highly digitized world? Well, you make sure people on the internet are talking good about you.
Online Reputation Management or ORM is an important part of a business’s overall marketing strategy. Its purpose is to create and maintain a positive image of the business across the web, social media, and other business-related platforms. It also involves dealing with bad reviews and complaints.
How does it work?
You must have heard about the algorithm of Google Search. Google shows only the optimum content. Let’s just say, you sell electronics via the showroom, and a possible customer searches about them. Your social media comes up along with your website. However, the details such as the location of the showroom and name are different on both search results. This can confuse the customer and force him to go on a better website. ORM is all about optimizing your online presence so that you pop up every time things relevant to your business are searched.
What if there is a negative comment or complaint and worse it is not addressed. That too would leave a bad impression and damage the image of your business. ORM is all about managing these things. It is about maintaining an online presence that is positive and brings you more customers.
Who does ORM?
All this image management seems like a lot of work right? You must be wondering who does ORM for a business. Well, it depends on a lot of factors such as the type, scale, and profitability of the business. Large corporations hire specialized firms which do ORM for them but with easy-to-use tools available it can be done easily in-house by one or two employees who have good knowledge of image management.
Why should you invest in managing your online reputation?
- Connect with customers and address complaints
It does not matter whether you have a small business or large-scale operation, you do need a strategy and a team to manage your online reputation. Do not live with the mindset that people will come to your shop if they want to buy the product you sell. Also, always remember people are talking about your product and business.
There was a time when companies just sold their products without engaging with customers. However, today customers are writing about their experience with your product on social media, your website, and other online spaces. Customers are now more likely to post their experiences whether good or bad and try to contact you.
In case of a negative review or complaint, it is better to be polite. Apologize for the inconvenience and connect with the customer in a private conversation via phone, text, or email. This will prompt customers to stop dropping multiple bad comments and help them and the business to find solutions. Engagement does not have to stop there, make sure you thank the customer for their positive comments and tell them about your commitment towards customer satisfaction.
- Prevent customer backlash and tackle smear campaigns
Businesses including large multinational corporations have paid the price of not understanding the importance of ORM. Recently, Nestle faced backlash for its anti-environmental practices. Nestle decided not to address these complaints. This turned out to be a bad strategy. People got angry and spammed Nestle across different online platforms with negative comments, DMs, and even morphed Logos. This tells us how important it is to address the problems of the customers as quickly as possible.
ORM is especially beneficial in case there is a specialized maligning campaign against your firm. Customers or even competitors can often engage in malpractice to damage your reputation. Fake negative comments, paid fake news and bad press can cause serious damage to your business. ORM helps you tackle such situations with ease. The specialized team which is sound technically and legally helps you get rid of negative press and all unnecessary comments and contents off the internet.
Conclusion
Listening to your customers in this age of digitalization is important for a business to survive. On the internet, it just takes a few seconds for a bad comment and unaddressed complaint to turn into a smear campaign. Addressing customers’ problems and accepting criticism only helps your business appear transparent and accountable. ORM helps keep your online presence positive and gain the trust of customers.
Pitch:
One bad comment or downvote on the internet can cause you hundreds of customers. All businesses whether big or small should invest in Online Reputation Management. ORM allows you to streamline your content so that you pop up often on search engine results. You can quickly connect with dissatisfied customers and solve issues. ORM is an important and effective tool to counter negative press and maligning campaigns. Set up a team in-house or hire a marketing firm to provide you with ORM along with promotional campaigns.
