If you’re not protecting your reputation, you’re risking the viability of your business. Even small enterprises can suffer devastating damage without an online reputation management system like those offered by Status Labs. Every dollar you spend on outreach — whether it’s inbound media like digital ads or outbound sales efforts like trade shows, cold calls, or emails, is at risk if you don’t have a moat to protect your online presence.
‘Your Brand Name Is Only as Good as Your Reputation’
Richard Branson summed up the importance of ORM when he said, “Your brand name is only as good as your reputation.” Data supports his assertions, as 90% of consumers use search engines like Google to help make purchase decisions. Couple that with claims that online reviews impact 70% of those decisions, and even one review (on Page 1 of a search) can translate to losing at least 20% of deals. That number doubles with two negative articles and nearly triples with three.
5 Ways Online Reputation Management Influences Online Perception
ORM, like the services provided by Status Labs, isn’t a single one-and-done. It’s a strategy that implements a number of tactics to boost a business’s reputation in five different ways.
- Creating Online Visibility
Much like SEO, prospects can’t find you if you don’t appear in their search results. Optimizing your online presence with relevant keyword search terms is at the heart of ORM.
- Building Positive Online Narratives
ORM experts like Status Labs strive to shape the narrative of your small enterprise in a positive light by ensuring that your content and available online information accurately represent your brand and values.
- Mitigating Negative Content
Whether it’s negative reviews, comments, or unflattering news articles, reputation management helps mitigate the impact of these harmful search results. Even a professionally constructed reply to a negative comment or review can influence the customer as well as others who see how you’ve handled the adversity.
- Promoting Positive Content
Actively promoting positive content like favorable news, reviews, and stories helps lessen the blow of negative content and portrays your small enterprise in a positive light.
- Controlling Search Results
Negative search results generally cannot be deleted, but they can be made less relevant with ORM. How? By working to control what appears in search engine results for branded keywords and making sure positive and accurate information ranks more prominently to mitigate the negative results.
Why Active Management Is Necessary?
Effective online reputation management is about actively managing and maintaining your small enterprise’s online presence. It’s about ensuring that the perception of your brand aligns with your desired brand identity. Much like with cybersecurity, a reputation requires constant monitoring and management, not just attention when a crisis emerges.
Online Reputation Management Also Drives Revenue
People work with those they know, like, and trust. A positive online reputation helps small enterprises establish and build trust and credibility. That translates to more revenue and starts a flywheel of increased customer acquisition. Just like negative reviews can kill a sale, positive reviews and ratings help attract new customers, as people can see how others have had a good experience with your brand.
Ongoing Monitoring Delivers Incremental Benefits
As management guru and quality improvement expert Peter Drucker said, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Regularly monitoring your reputation management measures your brand’s marketplace perception. That gives you the ability to gain insights quickly into what your customers are saying about your business so that you can make improvements and address issues before they get out of hand. Ongoing reputation management also gives you an advantage, especially over those competitors with less favorable reputations. Finally, by managing your online reputation, you can spot market trends that can alter your strategic direction and help your small enterprise stay nimbly ahead of the curve.
