A Guide on Intelligent Online Reputation Management Services for Your Brand

Intelligent Online Reputation Management (ORM) is all about controlling the online conversation. It uses strategies to ensure that people find the right content when they search for you on the Internet. If online reputation management is done properly, it counters misleading trends, creates balance, and helps you maintain a positive image. In this blog post, we highlight the importance of ORM and how online reputation management services help your business prosper.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION?

You may think people will not search for you online because you are under the radar. But, chances are they will search for your business online for reasons such as the following:

• Customers searching for products and services online.
• Employees performing research before an interview.
• Old employees trying to share professional opportunities.

Hence, regardless of how low-tech you are, people are looking at your information available online. When someone shares a negative comment about you online, it can cause you serious problems in the long run.

It is essential to be aware of the sentiment people have about you online in order to take appropriate steps and correct any inaccuracies. A few years ago, the Internet was a different place. Companies were only selling products to passive audiences, without any interaction with the customers. Since the communication channel was very ‘top-down’, customers never got to voice their opinions in a powerful manner.

However now, websites are more than just static flyers. Almost every website now contains user-generated content, which can be positive if you regularly interact with your audience online. Positive reviews and feedback is a plus, but it does not have the same impact as negative reviews. People tend to prefer reading negative reviews over positive reviews which is the reason reputation management is so important.

" People tend to prefer reading negative reviews over positive reviews which is the reason reputation management is so important. "

People, including your customers, prospects, and basically everyone else, will talk about you regardless of the size of your business. They will comment on your blogs, tweet about your product that they just tried, and share their customer experience with you on Facebook groups, along with other kinds of online interactions. Your business will never be successful if you ignore the channels where people voice their opinions about you.

PRINCIPLES FOR ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

Online reputation management is a primary concern for marketers and business owners. To better understand how online reputation works, you must first understand some key principles for it.

• Search results are generated through algorithms. Computerized systems make complex calculations to determine online reputation on the Internet. It is practically impossible for someone to take in all the data that’s available online. Therefore, social media websites and search engines use their algorithms to determine which content would the audience be interested in.
• Attack people who attack you illegitimately. Sometimes doing right only means preventing the wrong. Domino’s Pizza fired and arrested several employees in 2009 because they shared inappropriate videos of themselves playing with food. Similarly, some people might portray a wrong image of your company by posting false information online. If you don’t take the right action against such people on time, chances are they would do it again.
• Do not engage with detractors. You should not write back or post comments referring to someone who writes a negative comment about you online. If you do, the issue that you’d want to hide would be getting more attention from people. Moreover, malicious posters may even twist your responses to turn them into something negative. Hence, opting radio silence is the wisest way to deal with taunts.
• Publish your story. In order to promote something online, its presence on the Internet is mandatory. Therefore, having a solid base of accurate and positive content is your first step towards improving your online reputation. You can start with writing blogs or posting YouTube videos. However, in the long run, you might need to consider forming a publication team for most effective results.
• React quickly, but politely. Customers need a response, even if it’s short and doesn’t really solve the issue. For example, when you receive a complaint on Twitter, you should respond quickly with something like: “We have noted your problem. We will get back to you as soon as possible”. Even though this is a generic response, the customer will feel important. You may contact them again for a more detailed conversation regarding the issue. Online reputation services that are made available by reputation management companies such as Mentionlytics make it possible for you to monitor complaints and feedback about your business online.
• Make use of social media. Social media presence can make a huge difference in your online reputation. This is because you get to control the content you display, and such sites usually rank well on search engines. Therefore, maintaining business profiles on Twitter and LinkedIn should be a top priority for online reputation management.
• Protect your business’ and employee’s privacy. Keep track of personally identifiable information of yourself and your employees that is posted online. Stop using services that sell your personal data and delete all such information from people-search sites. This will reduce the likelihood of someone using your personal, sensitive information to affect your online reputation.
• Assume that everything lasts forever on the internet. The internet does not forget anything. Everything that is published about you online becomes a part of your permanent online image. Search engines do not show results according to timeline, so old and outdated information or negative reviews from years ago may still be ranked if they are seen as relevant by the engine.

PRINCIPLES FOR ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

Online reputation management is a primary concern for marketers and business owners. To better understand how online reputation works, you must first understand some key principles for it.

• Search results are generated through algorithms. Computerized systems make complex calculations to determine online reputation on the Internet. It is practically impossible for someone to take in all the data that’s available online. Therefore, social media websites and search engines use their algorithms to determine which content would the audience be interested in.
• Attack people who attack you illegitimately. Sometimes doing right only means preventing the wrong. Domino’s Pizza fired and arrested several employees in 2009 because they shared inappropriate videos of themselves playing with food. Similarly, some people might portray a wrong image of your company by posting false information online. If you don’t take the right action against such people on time, chances are they would do it again.
• Do not engage with detractors. You should not write back or post comments referring to someone who writes a negative comment about you online. If you do, the issue that you’d want to hide would be getting more attention from people. Moreover, malicious posters may even twist your responses to turn them into something negative. Hence, opting radio silence is the wisest way to deal with taunts.
• Publish your story. In order to promote something online, its presence on the Internet is mandatory. Therefore, having a solid base of accurate and positive content is your first step towards improving your online reputation. You can start with writing blogs or posting YouTube videos. However, in the long run, you might need to consider forming a publication team for most effective results.
• React quickly, but politely. Customers need a response, even if it’s short and doesn’t really solve the issue. For example, when you receive a complaint on Twitter, you should respond quickly with something like: “We have noted your problem. We will get back to you as soon as possible”. Even though this is a generic response, the customer will feel important. You may contact them again for a more detailed conversation regarding the issue. Online reputation services that are made available by reputation management companies such as Mentionlytics make it possible for you to monitor complaints and feedback about your business online.
• Make use of social media. Social media presence can make a huge difference in your online reputation. This is because you get to control the content you display, and such sites usually rank well on search engines. Therefore, maintaining business profiles on Twitter and LinkedIn should be a top priority for online reputation management.
• Protect your business’ and employee’s privacy. Keep track of personally identifiable information of yourself and your employees that is posted online. Stop using services that sell your personal data and delete all such information from people-search sites. This will reduce the likelihood of someone using your personal, sensitive information to affect your online reputation.
• Assume that everything lasts forever on the internet. The internet does not forget anything. Everything that is published about you online becomes a part of your permanent online image. Search engines do not show results according to timeline, so old and outdated information or negative reviews from years ago may still be ranked if they are seen as relevant by the engine.

HOW CAN ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT SERVICES HELP?

Online reputation management is all about tools that help you keep a track of everything said about you online. They assist you in building strategies including content management, using effective keywords, content creation, and online banner promotions among others.

Basically, if anything with your name attached to it can be traced, reviewed, and managed. Following are some of the advantages of using online reputation management services to manage your online reputation.

Increased Trust

People always choose brands that have a good image online. Therefore, it’s imperative that you track your brand’s standing on a regular basis. Whether it’s a client or a customer, they would try to find out others’ experience before making a choice. According to a study by Power Reviews, almost 97% of customers read product reviews before they make even a small purchase. The study also stated that more than one-third of customers consult reviews first before purchasing a product. Hence, your customers will always search for you online, regardless of the size of your business (ever wondered how to start a business?). The importance of a good online reputation keeps growing every day. Another study shows that more than 90% of customers completely trust positive online reviews. Investing in effective online reputation management services will help you sideline the negative comments and shed light on good reviews, conversations, and feedback.

Higher Profitability

Online reputation is a key factor in drawing business to your brand. When more people see positive reviews about you, more people will be convinced to choose you, hence increasing your profits. Customers of all kinds are attracted to a company that has lots of good online reviews. Targeting them can be the turning point for your business. It is even found that a restaurant with just half-a-star more rating is likely to sell 19 percent more than its competitors. This applies to companies from most other industries as well.

Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution helps you respond to undesirable comments just in time. Participating in conflict resolution is something that customers really admire. You can isolate and flag any comments that create inconsistency in the way your brand is characterized. Let’s say a customer searches for your contact number online and a new owner picks up the call or he gets a message saying that the line is disconnected. It will cause damage to your reputation before you can even provide a service. Make sure all data about you is clean and updated.

Removes Negativity from Top Search Engine Rankings

Popular search engines like Google are the main sources of driving organic traffic towards your brand. You should consider the first page of Google as your online profile, where you would want zero negativity about yourself. Online reputation management services help you identify how positively or negatively are search engines ranking you so you can take appropriate actions. Eliminating negativity from your profile will result in a better search engine ranking, therefore more traffic is likely to land on your website.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Just like everything else, online reputation management services are adopting artificial intelligence technologies to provide automated online reputation management. AI is particularly going to have the following effects on reputation management:

• Systems will be able to predict public opinion about you based on what messages you send, how and when you send them, and who you send them to. With the immense results of AI, you can decide what to say to your customers and when. This will help you create a more positive image for your brand.
• Artificial Intelligence can be used to spread false news about you by hacking into profiles or creating fake profiles. This can damage your online reputation. Therefore, you need to be prepared with an AI counterattack insurance plan to prevent such losses. Online reputation management services such as Mentionlytics provide such a counterattack.
• AI will save your time by responding to most messages that you receive (just like Google’s suggested answers). Most emerging online reputation management services now support this feature. They make use of generic pre-defined templates and then customize them according to the message received.

ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT WITH MENTIONLYTICS

Did you know that 75% of online users are more likely to click on a negative search result than on a positive one? This ultimately means that businesses can thrive or fail just on the basis of their online reputation. So, how should you go about protecting your business’ online reputation?

Read more: The 5 Most Crucial Crisis Management Steps

Mentionlytics is an online reputation management service that allows you to monitor, measure, and manage your reputation online through an artificial-intelligence enabled platform. With Mentionlytics, you can monitor your engagement with online communities, keep a track of reviews about your brand, and identify influencers in your industry who can help you achieve success.

The most valuable asset for a brand is its reputation and this is the reason Mentionlytics puts the focus on protecting your online reputation. Through Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms, we filter out the most important information for you so that you can take action promptly. We let you know whenever you receive a negative review or whenever there are irregular spikes in engagement, instead of just sending you alerts and notifications for all activities. Our sentiment analysis system coupled with machine learning enables us to send you warnings about negative content that may harm your brand’s reputation.

Furthermore, we provide you with a number of customization options to filter the information exactly according to your needs. All of this and more is what makes Mentionlytics one of the most effective online reputation management services out there.

TO SUM UP

Managing your reputation online has now become more important than it ever was in history. The speed and volume of information being shared online are extremely high which include short tweets on Twitter and full-fledged reviews on online review sites.

What this means for businesses is that they are now at risk of reputation damage at all times. The tech-savvy influencers of today know exactly how to create and distribute information such that it is actionable. Antagonists or rivals of your brand might just hire these influencers to distribute false and negative information about your brand. Even if it is not a fake review, a simple misunderstanding with a customer can lead to them sharing negative comments about you online. In all such cases, businesses face a huge challenge of saving their brand’s reputation.

Due to the barrage of information available, it can become difficult for business owners to efficiently manage their online reputation. This is where artificial-intelligence supported online reputation management services come in handy. Reputation management companies such as Mentionlytics enable you to monitor and manage your online reputation across the Internet through a single dashboard. With intelligent features such as negative review filtering, smart suggestions, and influencer scoring, you can always stay up to date with what is being said about you on the Internet.

Start your FREE trial with Mentionlytics to start your journey towards a positive online reputation for your business.