What is online reputation management?

Everyone has an online reputation. When it comes to brands/ businesses/products online reputation essentially defines the way they are perceived by potential consumers who search for them or happens to stumble upon them in internet. Online reputation management companies therefore controls the way a business is presented in the digital world. Online reputation management (ORM) is not limited to optimising content to rank better in SERPs. It is also about modulating reviews and feedback in a way that is beneficial to the businesses. And regulating activities and interactions in online world is vital for reputation management of brands.

ORM vs. Public relations

Just like ORM, the function of public relations is to present your brand/business in a good light. What then is the difference between the two?

Public relations are through how businesses andorganizations communicate with the public. PR makes use of relationships that gradually developed from within an industry for saving the image of businesses and damage control. While PR makes use of a variety of speciality services including ORM for this purpose, online reputation management mainly focus on the reactive side of branding. ORM works on the entire search profile of a brand so that they are represented positively in the online world. It’sup to the online reputation services to manage ratings, reviews, social media etc. in a manner that they support the positive brand image of company.

How Public relations influence your business

The importance of public relations not only extends to crisis management. If you are a business owner or responsible for running an organization, you would have surely come face to face with appalling situations like unsatisfied customers, misunderstood advertising, negative branding etc. In such cases, effective PR becomes vital to your company and can even decide the future of your business. The public relations roles and functions include all activities that help to manage the public image of companies.

How to manage your online reputation

Unlike the passive marketing in olden days, organic interaction with consumers is a key ingredient forall successful marketing strategies today. Here are some helpful online reputation management strategies that will help you build a healthy relationship with entities online.

1. Set up a clear social media policy for your brand so that no one related to the post would post anything freely and outside the decided parameters. Harmful, negative, abusive or sensitive content must be avoided at all costs.
2. Identify a content strategy that outlines relevant subjects in a way that favours the reputation of your brand.
3. Establish a schedule for content publication and engagement with audience
4. Study the metrics and monitor results
5. Consistently create high quality content like articles and blogs

Social media reputation management

There are a large number of social media monitoring tools available that will help you track your social media performance. Consistent tracking and monitoring in social media marketing will help you avoid negative social media material that can harm the brand image. More than half of the consumers of a specific brand make use of social media platforms to voice their feedback. Moreover, audience tend to trust these user reviews more than anything. Focusing on strengthening the engagement, even if that means you have to respond to negative comments, is the only way to win this. Try to be as much relative and transparent as possible. Encouraging more social reviews also plays a vital role in positive reputation building.

The PESO model

The PESO model helps us understand four major pillars of successful reputation management – paid, earned, shared and owned digital media.

Paid media

The paid marketing efforts include PPC advertising, display ads, sponsored posts etc. Paid media is a great way to extend reach and build new relationships. Paid media is also an easier means to target and control content.

Shared media

Shared media is a comparatively fresher term in branding. Each social media platforms have their own unique characteristics and rules that require different types of approach. Regardless, it is important to maintain aconsistentengagement and present fresh content to ace in shared media reputation management.

Earned media

Earned media includes tools like blogging, social media influencing and great content that brings you the necessary coverage without paying.

Owned media

Owned media refers to the properties or content yourbusiness owns. Anything from blogs to eBooks belongs to this category. As a rule of thumb, the more number of properties you own, the more control you have over your business branding.

Hemito Digital Pvt Ltd is one of the leading online reputation management agency in Kochi specialized in digital marketing promotions and reputation management services.