What is Online Reputation Management?

You are happily posting on social media. Every day you receive thousands of likes and comments. All is well until, on a fine day, a particular comment raised alarm bells. The reputation you gained in the online world is now under threat. If you do not diffuse the negative comment quickly, it could go viral and pose a threat to your goodwill. How do you manage such a situation?

Imagine if the same thing occurs to a business. The impact of bad comments and bad discussions about your business will be severe. Such situations need deft handling. This is where online reputation management services become necessary.

As businesses are increasing their online activities, social media is gaining prominence. The medium is the vocal space for businesses to promote their brands and products. Also, it is the space for them to interact with the customers, gain leads, and generate sales. There is constant chatter on social media, and businesses try to maintain transparent communication with the audience. But, it is fraught with dangers.

There are loads of examples where businesses have lost their reputation and market due to negative comments on social media. Transparent communication policies like allowing employees to talk about your brand in the online space, allowing criticism and addressing it publicly, asking for feedback, etc. These are beneficial to a business, but pose risks.

Also, it is possible for your rivals to damage your online reputation. There are many techniques for doing this. Not just on social media, through negative comments or reviews, your business’ search engine ranking can be brought down. In the online world, 85% of consumers trust online reviews. So, investing in reputation management is necessary, but most businesses do not have a plan.

Online Reputation Management or ORM services is thus becoming a vital cog in maintaining transparent communication without damaging your reputation.

Google is the dominant search engine, and its algorithms love the popularity of a website. To appease the algorithms, you thus have to maintain a positive reputation. This is another reason why you must invest in online reputation management services.

Here are some tips on how you can maintain your online reputation.

• Gain Trust Trust is a valuable asset. At the same time, it is a perishable asset. While gaining trust is hard, losing it is easy. Thus, to maintain your online reputation, you must work hard to gain the trust of your audience.
• Monitor the Feeds Monitor your social media feeds constantly. Understand what your audience is saying and respond to them appropriately.
• Be Swift and React Politely Be swift at reacting to a crisis. But, react politely. And keep your replies as simple as possible to maintain clarity in communication
• Address Criticism Constructively Sometimes, a high-level executive of your company may have said or written something on the online space that has caused a storm. Instead of panicking, you must respond to criticism constructively.
• Go Against illegitimate Attackers with full force Many opportunistic attackers may be employed by your rivals to damage your reputation. Identify such illegitimate attackers and go with full force against them. Do not let them damage your reputation.

If you are struggling to manage your online reputation, Crystal Hues is here to help. To know more about ORM services, please visit www.crystalhues.com