Thursday Thoughts:
Online Reputation Management
What is Online Reputation Management?
As users browse the Internet and social media, they create opinions about people and brands that they see or interact with. As such, all online information that even just mentions your company name can influence a prospect or customer’s opinion about your brand—both positively and negatively.
Online reputation management (ORM) is the practice of actively creating, curating, and monitoring all information about yourself online. ORM encompasses a variety of platforms, including Google Search, social media, review websites, and company listings/directories (i.e. Bloomberg profile).
ORM’s goal is to make all positive information (reviews, awards, compliments) easy to find, while diminishing any negative content.
Benefits of Online Reputation Management
- It allows you to engage with your target audience and humanize your brand.
- It helps grow brand loyalty, leading to more referrals, brand awareness, and ultimately sales.
- It gives you the ability to resolve issues before they erupt into monstrous problems.
- It acts as another channel to get to know your audience.
How Can You Increase Your Online Ratings and Reviews?
- Provide discounts for people who give you a review.
- Create a sweepstake asking for stories about customers’ best purchases from your company or their best project memory if it is more service-oriented.
- Include links to online review websites in your email marketing campaigns and post-purchase follow-ups.
- If you have a sales team, have them ask for reviews one-on-one, either by phone, email, or in person. The personal touch makes the ask much more likely to be fulfilled.