Online Reputation Management: 7 Techniques for Global Brands

Mar 11, 2022|Read time: 17 min.

Jonas Sickler SEO Manager

Key Points

Few things are much important than your brand’s online reputation. It builds spot with customers, employees, and investors. As a result, you tin turn your concern much efficaciously and present amended ROI. The champion mode to support your brand’s representation is done online estimation management.

Sadly, excessively galore brands hold until they’re successful the midst of a nationalist relations situation earlier they see investing successful their integer reputation. And that’s chiefly the industry’s responsibility due to the fact that we’ve done a mediocre occupation of explaining precisely what estimation absorption is, and erstwhile it’s needed.

What is online estimation absorption (ORM)?

Online Reputation Management

Definition

Online estimation management, oregon ORM, is the process of managing the online accusation astir a person, institution oregon brand. The superior extremity of ORM is to found an accurate, sustainable, and controllable hunt scenery that represents the afloat arc of an enactment oregon CEO.

The process involves publishing and optimizing online contented to power the archetypal leafage of Google for branded hunt queries. A emblematic ORM strategy mightiness see reappraisal management, societal media marketing, nationalist relations, hunt motor optimization, and lawsuit work tactics.

However, integer estimation absorption broadly falls nether the class of search engine optimization (SEO).

Why? Because whether you’re focused connected marque health, full-on harm control, oregon estimation recovery, your apical precedence should beryllium to power what radical spot erstwhile they hunt your brand.

In fact, 98% of searchers won’t look past the archetypal leafage of Google results for immoderate query. Therefore, the contented that shows up connected leafage 1 overwhelmingly controls nationalist perception. If you privation to ain your narrative, you request to power the contented that appears connected leafage 1 erstwhile stakeholders hunt for your brand.

That being said, determination are galore integer channels progressive successful online estimation management. Creating a affirmative content of your marque requires actively managing each of them. The channels tin beryllium breached down into the pursuing categories.

Owned media

Owned media encompasses immoderate online media that you control, specified arsenic your brand’s website, blogs, oregon pages connected third-party websites.

This is 1 country wherever SEO plays a captious role. If you tin presumption much controllable web pages connected the archetypal leafage of Google, Yahoo, Bing, oregon different hunt engines, past you’ll person much power implicit your online reputation.

Earned media

Earned media encompasses each escaped vulnerability and sum your marque receives from third-party platforms, for example:

• Press coverage
• Articles and blog posts connected different websites
• Forums (Quora, Reddit, etc.)
• Third-party listings (Capterra, Glassdoor, Trustpilot, etc.)
• Review sites you don’t power (Google, Yelp, etc.)

Earned media is precise important for online estimation absorption due to the fact that affirmative marque mentions reenforce spot with some your assemblage arsenic good arsenic Google. Additionally, arsenic the Google algorithm sees an expanding fig of affirmative off-page signals, they volition property much authorization and trustworthiness to your brand, which translates into higher rankings.

Shared media refers to immoderate benignant of contented selling that is shared betwixt your marque and others. For example, your assorted societal media accounts are shared media. Although you ain your profiles, and you make idiosyncratic societal media posts, anyone tin respond with affirmative oregon antagonistic comments.

It’s important to wage attraction to however radical prosecute with your marque online, particularly crossed shared media channels. If you person galore atrocious reviews connected Facebook oregon antagonistic feedback connected Twitter, it tin harm your brand’s image.

Make a concerted effort to show immoderate mentions of your marque successful real-time and question proposal from online estimation absorption services to code antagonistic feedback.

Paid media

Paid media includes each channels, platforms, and integer selling vehicles wherever you indispensable wage to diagnostic your brand. Social media ads, Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, LinkedIn sponsored messaging, show ads, autochthonal ads, and sponsored contented are each examples of paid media.

Paid media offers immoderate opportunities to reenforce your preferred narrative. However, it’s not arsenic invaluable arsenic earned oregon owned media due to the fact that consumers spot integrated hunt results much than advertisements.

Why estimation absorption is important

We’ve already touched connected this, but it’s important to item however overmuch power antagonistic reviews person implicit marque sentiment.

Those are staggering statistics, and they archer a precise elemental story. Most customers question retired reviews, spot them, and marque decisions based connected what they find.

Your brand’s estimation is worthy billions of dollars

Due to the velocity and scope of societal media, a antagonistic acquisition tin spell viral successful a fewer hours, ruining your business’s reputation. In 2017, a United Airlines formation unit dragged a rider disconnected a level and idiosyncratic recorded the incident. The video rapidly went viral connected societal media with much than 100 cardinal views.

The result? United Airlines mislaid implicit 1 cardinal dollars successful marketplace value. This example, and others similar it, item conscionable however destructive antagonistic property tin beryllium to your brand.

Impact connected sales

Your online estimation besides has a nonstop interaction connected sales. 88% of buyers bash online probe earlier they marque a purchase. If imaginable buyers spot a drawstring of antagonistic reviews oregon property astir your brand, it could sour their presumption of your institution and pb them to acquisition from 1 of your competitors.

On the different hand, if they spot a ample fig of affirmative reviews and press, they’re much apt to spot your marque and marque a purchase.

Customer feedback

Managing your online estimation besides allows you to cod invaluable lawsuit feedback. As a result, you tin amended your products and services, arsenic good arsenic lawsuit experience.

Yes, you should execute lawsuit surveys and polls to amended your company. But don’t disregard unsolicited feedback that could uncover caller and amended ways to service your people audience.

Online estimation absorption examples

Online estimation absorption isn’t lone for brands facing crises. In fact, prevention is simply a important portion of managing a reputation. Today, antagonistic quality and opinions tin spell viral successful an instant, causing real-time harm to marque reputation.

Here are conscionable a fewer examples of however Terakeet has helped customers amended their online reputations:

• An enforcement astatine a multi-billion-dollar institution whose concern took a deed aft a large quality website published an unfavorable story. The communicative was inaccurate, yet different media publications inactive picked it up. The communicative yet dispersed to the executive’s societal media accounts, affecting the business’s bottommost line. Terakeet rebalanced the executive’s hunt scenery to archer a truer and much holistic communicative of the individual’s accomplishments.
• A large fiscal services institution whose income were suffering from a fistful of antagonistic reviews. Unfortunately, a fewer antagonistic reviews had a large impact. Prospective customers often brought the reviews up during the income process, influencing the company’s quality to adjacent deals. Terakeet restored power implicit the archetypal leafage of Google for the company.
• An enforcement astatine a high-profile steadfast who was plagued by an outdated quality story. When radical Googled the executive’s name, they recovered an aged communicative astir a past concern deal. Terakeet repositioned the outdated and irrelevant nonfiction deeper successful Google’s hunt results wherever fewer stakeholders would observe it.

As you tin spot from the supra examples, online estimation issues person superior concern impacts. Furthermore, problems that stem from a cardinal fig astatine the institution tin besides harm the brand’s reputation.

How online estimation absorption is antithetic for enterprises

Most online estimation absorption firms thin to absorption connected section concern listings oregon idiosyncratic branding for individuals.

However, with endeavor companies, standard changes the game. Mistakes interaction millions of customers. As a result, concern owners suffer power of marque messaging online and offline.

For instance, ideate your website experiences a three-hour outage. If it’s a tiny concern website, customers whitethorn not adjacent notice. However, that aforesaid three-hour model mightiness outgo an endeavor ecommerce concern millions of dollars successful sales. Even worse, it would astir apt marque the evening news.

And if you’re an enterprise-level level similar Slack oregon Facebook? Get acceptable for 3 hours of Armageddon-style memes connected societal networks.

Now, ideate the interaction of a mistake that really hurts the lawsuit oregon an egregious enactment by a institution executive. What if your tract gets hacked and atrocious actors summation entree to your lawsuit data?

Small businesses tin determination connected quickly, but endeavor businesses volition look a tempest that could past weeks, months, oregon adjacent years.

How online estimation absorption is antithetic for executives

Many brands person go intrinsically tied to their laminitis oregon CEO successful the nationalist eye. It’s particularly existent if there’s a almighty institution root story. For example, you can’t picture Tesla oregon SpaceX without mentioning Elon Musk. Alongside that, he’s developed himself as a brand, promoting his ain backstory and encouraging nicknames similar “The real-life Iron Man.”

Not each CEO wants to beryllium famous, but it’s a byproduct of moving a celebrated brand. Thanks to societal media, CEOs are successful the spotlight. And customers instrumentality missteps precise personally.

Controversial idiosyncratic behaviour by CEOs tin spark destructive quality cycles and societal media boycotts. A azygous Tweet tin nonstop banal prices plummeting and thrust distant investors.

That’s wherefore CEO estimation absorption establishes an executive’s bequest beyond their enactment relation successful the company.

7 Online estimation absorption techniques for brands

Let’s look astatine the astir important things you tin bash to fortify your online brand reputation.

1. Perform a marque audit

A marque audit is simply a captious archetypal measurement successful your online estimation absorption strategy. Take inventory and measure your full online presence, including your website, blog, societal media profiles, and your third-party concern profiles.

Scrutinize your Google hunt results arsenic well. What bash radical spot erstwhile they hunt for your marque sanction and related keywords? Are determination immoderate off-brand oregon antagonistic results? Are determination excessively galore quality articles and not capable controllable marque assets? Remember, affirmative articles are large until thing atrocious happens. Then, those stories volition flip to antagonistic mentions overnight.

2. Monitor marque mentions

An effectual mode to manage your brand online is to actively show marque mentions connected the web. Set up alerts for your marque sanction and related keywords, and past respond rapidly erstwhile you spot immoderate mention, affirmative oregon negative. This includes mentions connected societal media, arsenic good arsenic immoderate mentions your marque receives successful blog posts, forums, videos, etc.

The faster you place and incorporate antagonistic mentions, the better. Most radical are consenting to forgive honorable mistakes if the institution makes a good-faith effort to remedy the situation.

3. Respond to antagonistic reviews

You whitethorn beryllium tempted to disregard antagonistic online reviews and anticipation they spell away, but that’s a mistake. Negative reviews are an accidental for your marque to code problems head-on, show lawsuit care, and signifier a much authentic transportation with imaginable customers.

Respond to each reviews, whether they’re affirmative oregon negative. Thank customers for their feedback, adjacent if it’s critical. And ever connection existent solutions to problems.

If a lawsuit had a atrocious experience, they don’t privation a coupon for 20% disconnected their adjacent purchase. With that approach, determination won’t beryllium a adjacent purchase. Go supra and beyond to amusement customers you basal down your brand, and they tin spot you to marque things right.

If you tin crook a antagonistic reappraisal into a affirmative lawsuit experience, your online estimation volition benefit.

4. Invest successful SEO

SEO is an indispensable portion of online estimation management, but the strategy is somewhat different.

Most commonly, we usage SEO to fertile galore antithetic pages connected 1 website for a divers acceptable of hunt queries. However, successful presumption of ORM, we usage SEO to fertile galore antithetic websites for a fewer brand-focused queries. As a result, you’ll beryllium capable to ​​push down antagonistic hunt results and regenerate them with affirmative contented that you control.

Your branded SEO strategy should absorption connected optimizing arsenic galore controllable web pages arsenic imaginable for brand-related keywords.

• Create invaluable contented connected your website for reviews arsenic good arsenic enactment pages
• Build backlinks to cardinal pages you privation to fertile connected Google leafage one
• Earn affirmative marque mentions done integer PR, events, sponsorships, and influencer marketing
• Be progressive connected cardinal societal media platforms similar Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram
• Claim and optimize applicable third-party profiles, specified arsenic Google My Business, Yelp, Trustpilot, and concern profiles wherever you power the content.

When it comes to SEO for estimation management, retrieve that Google astir ever prioritizes authoritative, trustworthy sources. In airy of this, absorption connected expanding the authorization and trustworthiness of your ain website, arsenic good arsenic optimizing your beingness connected authoritative third-party sites.

5. Leverage nationalist relations

Good nationalist relations tin assistance amended your online estimation by generating affirmative property for your brand. This property tin instrumentality galore forms, specified as:

• Guest posts connected high-quality websites
• Interviews of institution executives
• Press releases
• Branded events
• Charitable events
• Co-marketing with well-respected individuals oregon brands successful your industry
• Podcast appearances
• Live streams wherever you reply immoderate and each questions
• Public statements addressing immoderate important mistakes made by your company

The extremity of your nationalist relations efforts successful presumption of online estimation absorption is to item your cardinal values and found spot and expertise.

6. Encourage lawsuit reviews

One of the champion online estimation absorption strategies is to promote customers to permission reviews connected sites similar Google, Yelp, Trustpilot, Capterra, etc. That’s due to the fact that affirmative reviews tin inhabit invaluable existent property successful Google’s hunt results and power lawsuit behavior.

There are a fewer things you tin bash to promote customers to permission reviews:

• Send emails to your customers, straight asking them to permission reviews
• Make it casual for them by providing wide instructions connected wherever and however they tin permission a review
• Incentivize them with discounts oregon different peculiar offers for leaving a review
• Respond to each reviews, some affirmative and negative, truthful that customers consciousness similar their feedback genuinely matters

When it comes to online estimation management, lawsuit reviews are 1 of your astir invaluable assets. Take vantage of this by encouraging customers to permission reviews connected relevant, trustworthy reappraisal sites.

See however Terakeet improved the Trustpilot illustration of 1 of our clients from 3 antagonistic reviews to over 12,000 five-star “Excellent” reviews.

7. Promote affirmative content

Finally, beforehand contented that shines a affirmative airy connected your brand, specified as:

• Placing testimonials and reviews prominently connected your website
• Occasionally sharing affirmative reviews connected societal media, on with a convey you to the reviewer
• Showcasing salient third-party endorsements of your brand
• Working with influencers to beforehand contented you person created
• Sharing contented wherever you are favorably mentioned
• Promoting immoderate associated efforts done with individuals oregon brands

The champion examples of self-promotion are erstwhile you physique a span betwixt what your marque does and what your assemblage cares about.

Online estimation absorption requires a batch of effort and clip to negociate and track. There are galore tools that assistance you way your online reputation, truthful you tin show however your marque is seen.

Below are 9 of our favourite online estimation absorption tools:

BrandMentions

BrandMentions allows you to perceive successful connected each societal transmission arsenic good arsenic a assortment of blogs, news, and reappraisal sites. It past gives you an overview of however your marque is being talked astir arsenic good arsenic who is talking astir it. You tin besides spot who is talking astir your competitors, which gives you penetration into the estimation absorption strategies they are using.

Buzzsumo

Buzzsumo is simply a level that allows you to hunt the web for immoderate contented astir circumstantial presumption oregon marque names. You tin spot however fashionable a portion of contented is, arsenic good arsenic who has shared it and where. This is simply a large instrumentality for identifying immoderate antagonistic sentiment astir your marque and tracking your stock of dependable online.

Mention

Mention provides brands the accidental to show societal media and online conversations astir their brand. The level provides you heavy insights into who is talking astir your marque and what they are saying. You tin respond straight to circumstantial societal media conversations, arsenic good arsenic make societal media contented based connected assemblage trends you are observing.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts is simply a escaped instrumentality to way immoderate mentions of your name, brand, products, keywords, and competitors. Once it finds a notation of the presumption you entered, it volition automatically nonstop an email to you with the link.

Socialmention is an online instrumentality wherever you tin participate a word and take from a assortment of hunt options. It tin hunt blogs, microblogs, images, and much and volition showcase the results from the past day. The granular level of filtering allows you to find discussions astir your marque that you mightiness miss otherwise.

Reputology

Reputology is simply a reappraisal monitoring level that tin assistance a concern negociate their reviews. It tin way reviews for your marque crossed aggregate reappraisal platforms and let you to respond to them. It besides gives you the accidental to automatically canvass customers astatine cardinal points successful the lawsuit travel truthful that you tin place and code problems earlier they go significant.

Birdeye

Birdeye offers endeavor level net estimation absorption tools to present exceptional lawsuit experiences. One of its top strengths is that it allows you to automatically petition reviews from customers and past respond to those reviews connected much than 150 reappraisal sites. This makes it overmuch easier to garner affirmative lawsuit reviews, arsenic good arsenic respond to immoderate antagonistic ones that arise.

GatherUp

GatherUp is simply a afloat suite of tools that focuses connected the lawsuit acquisition arsenic good arsenic online reappraisal management. It offers reappraisal petition tools, reappraisal effect tools, and societal media tools that let you to easy stock your affirmative reviews. It besides has a built-in reappraisal widget that tin beryllium embedded connected immoderate website. As a result, you tin stitchery Voice of the Customer feedback and show your online reputation.

Meltwater

Meltwater provides an all-in-one marque estimation monitoring platform. It allows you to show a ample fig of sources, including societal media, online news, people media, podcasts, reappraisal sites, and more. It besides provides a societal media absorption instrumentality for publishing contented and engaging with followers. Additionally, it includes a societal influencer absorption level to place applicable influencers and tally estimation absorption campaigns.

When to prosecute an online estimation absorption company

There’s plentifulness to see erstwhile choosing online estimation absorption services. Here are a fewer important questions you tin inquire earlier making a last decision.

• Do you person a way grounds of occurrence moving with endeavor brands similar us?
• Can you explicate your privacy, security, and information absorption systems?
• Can you show a past of sustainable results, not conscionable impermanent successes?
• Do you person referenceable customers?
• How agelong person you been successful business?

The stakes are precocious for Fortune 1000 brands. An imperfect estimation impacts hiring, retention, sales, and capitalist confidence. So it’s perfectly captious to enactment with a institution that genuinely understands however Google works.

Your occurrence is our success. Ask america however we tin assistance enactment your marque successful a overmuch stronger spot online.

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