Importance of Online Reputation Management (ORM)

Online Reputation Management (ORM) is a process to develop a valuable reputation for your brand name over internet, specially on social media networks, and search engines. Maintaining online reputation can attract more potential sales leads, organic website traffic, engagements on your social media posts, reviews feedback of your products or services.

Towards the digital transformation and to maintain brands Online Reputation Management (ORM), companies hire marketing officer, digital marketing manager, social media manager or partners with agencies to make sure there online reputation are being monitored and maintained. Whether your brand is online or offline, customer always try to find out more information about company, products, history, reviews and complaints on google and other online platforms.

According to a survey 90% of the consumers look into online reviews and other customers feedback before making final buying decision.

Online Reputation Management (ORM) boost your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ranking, Develop brand positive image, attract more customers. Online Reputation Management (ORM) allows you to interact your customers online, you can answer pre-sales queries in real time, guide them better solutions.

Below are some more noteworthy important statistics that show the importance of Online Reputation Management (ORM) for you brand

1. As per Clutch survey in 2018; 100 out of 224 digital marketers allocate time and financial resources to Online Reputation Management (ORM) to boost business success.

2. 54% of digital marketers consider Online Reputation Management (ORM) to be an important factor in the company’s success.

3. 42% of Businesses monitor their online reputation frequently.

4. 80% of consumers check social media to get an idea about the product.

5. 25% growth in sales is experienced by businesses from investing in Online Reputation Management (ORM).

6. Google fields 4.08 million queries per second. Yelp users post 26.38 reviews per minute.

7. Swarm users check in 4.26 times per minute. That means you can be pretty sure that most customers are searching or posting about business too.

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8. TripAdvisor’s study in 2018 in partnership with Ipsos MORI
Businesses lose 22% of potential customers with one negative article on the first page of their search results. 3 negative article can cause a 59.2% loss.

All the above statistics point in one direction – Online Reputation Management (ORM) is the future of marketing and branding.

According to Chief Marketing Officer and Social Media Marketing Director at MGH Inc, Said, Ryan Goff “100% of companies should dedicate their attention to Online Reputation Management (ORM) ”

There are different online tools such as Google Alerts, Reputology, Yext and more which can be set up to get a notification when your brand is featured negatively online but this online tool can help to some extent. Hiring PR Agencies for their unmatched expertise is always the best plus companies could learn how to solve issues that arise online.

Online Reputation Expert Andy Beal says
“PR Agencies know where to look, who your influencers are, which channels to focus on, what keywords to monitor, and what types of sentiment to look for,”

Tips and Important points to consider with Online Reputation Management (ORM)

1. Consumers trust online reviews 12x more than product descriptions which are a huge advantage for the retail and e-commerce industry and so companies should focus mainly on this point.

2. Star rating is the best way to earn positive reviews. 94% of consumers buy from a business with 4/5 stars and 57% with 3/5 stars.

3. Search saturation is a great step to create content around keywords that show negative news about your business in search results.

4. Interaction is also important for handling positive or negative reviews in the most appropriate way.

5. Through Press releases, you can appeal to journalists, bloggers, and publications in your industry for positive review helping in SEO.

6. Google is your new business card online. Customers judge brands based on what Google’s search results say about them. 45% of B2B companies changed their minds about doing business with a company.

7. Social proofing your website is the quickest way. 5 stars rating, client logos, testimonials can convert a casual visitor into a client.

Conclusion

You’ve set up a business and it’s easy to think you’re in control of your online destiny. While you have control on your website and social media page but there is a large amount of ‘other’ information which can be quite daunting. Online content circulates rapidly; For this reason, businesses should always track what’s being said about them online frequently. The importance of Online Reputation Management (ORM) is irrefutable. If you need help in managing your business reputation online, get in touch today!