Reputation Management: A Quick Guide to Protecting Your Brand
News spreads like wildfire these days, and a brand’s reputation can be easily tarnished. Any interaction, internal or external, has the potential to make or break your company’s reputation. A handful of negative online reviews or posts may permanently dissuade potential customers or candidates.
However, your reputation does not have to be at the mercy of others’ opinions or judgments. Through effective business reputation management, you can shape and uphold a positive brand reputation. Positive media coverage or robust business performance can assist in portraying your brand positively. To reap both immediate and long-term benefits of reputation management, it is vital to maintain consistency and strategic planning.
This article will delve into the intricacies of reputation management and its significance. Furthermore, we will guide you in forming a reputation management strategy for your brand and introduce tools that can streamline your workflow.
What is Online Reputation Management
Online reputation management (ORM) is a strategy and process of monitoring, identifying, and influencing your digital reputation and credibility online. An effective ORM strategy can also provide you with new opportunities and insight on increasing your brand awareness.
It involves tracking what is written about a brand on the Internet, then utilizing sophisticated online techniques to promote positive and neutral content, while at the same time pushing down those links the brand does not want to show when someone Googles the brand.
ORM is not only about managing content in search engines, though. It’s also about managing negative business reviews and encouraging happy clients to contribute more positive feedback. In essence, ORM is about ensuring that your brand is represented accurately and positively online.
Online Reputation Management Failures
To understand just how important online reputation management is, let’s look at some real-life examples of businesses that have faced reputational damage.
In 2017, United Airlines faced a massive public backlash when a passenger was forcibly removed from a flight. The incident was captured on video and quickly went viral. United Airlines’ reputation took a severe hit, with customers boycotting the airline and the company’s stock plummeting. It is estimated that the incident cost the company $1 billion in stock value.
Another example is Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, which saw the social media giant facing criticism and backlash from users, politicians, and the media. The scandal affected public trust in Facebook, with many deciding to delete their accounts and advertisers reducing their ad spends on the platform. Facebook’s reputation took a severe hit, and it continues to work on rebuilding its trust with users.
Steps to create a Reputation Management Strategy
To avoid reputational damage, it’s crucial to have a reputation management strategy in place. Here are some steps to take to create a reputation management strategy:
- Monitor Your Online Presence: Regularly check reviews, social media mentions, and other online activity related to your brand.
- Respond to Negative Feedback: Address negative feedback in a professional and timely manner to show that you value customer feedback and care about their opinions.
- Produce High-Quality Content: Creating high-quality website content, blog posts, and social media updates can help boost your online brand reputation and position your business as a reliable authority in your industry.
- Collaborate with Industry Associations: Partnering with relevant industry associations can help boost your brand credibility and reputation.
- Invest in Digital Marketing: Running digital marketing campaigns can help boost your brand’s visibility, drive traffic to your website, and attract new customers.
Find out how Online Moderation help businesses with their online presence. Our customer service professionals monitor and moderate content, respond to negative reviews and provide memorable customer service that foster brand loyalty.
Your online brand reputation can make or break your business. It’s crucial to have a reputation management strategy in place to safeguard your brand and ensure its success. With the right approach, you can monitor your online presence, respond to negative feedback, produce high-quality content, collaborate with industry associations, and invest in digital marketing to boost your online brand reputation. Don’t wait until it’s too late – start working on your reputation management strategy today.
