ORM Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

Online reputation management is a fundamental concept of the digital world. You can take up a digital marketing certification to understand the basics of online reputation management. Online reputation management (ORM) encompasses actively monitoring mentions of your brand on websites and social media to address any negative comments.

ORM works by reacting to any negative customer comments on social media. It also includes responding to stories in the media (both social and traditional) that cast a negative light on your company. You could, for example, issue a public statement addressing the story’s content or respond with a social media post. Imarticus provides a Post-Graduation Program in Digital Marketing with Digitas. You can take the course to understand digital marketing and how critical online reputation management is for the entire ecosystem.

Need for Online Reputation Management

A brand can take a lot of hits online, but they’re usually small ones—a negative comment here, a low star rating there. None of these setbacks will be fatal at once but will affect the reputation in parts.

You’ll need online reputation management to address all of these small fires before they become significant problems. ORM is also critical for maintaining transparency, a key component of brand loyalty in 2020.

While carefully orchestrated public relations campaigns have their place, today’s consumers prefer natural interactions with businesses. They want to receive personalised messages from businesses, such as a direct message or an Instagram comment. Your company can combat negative claims by addressing them directly and openly with online reputation management.

Strategies for effectively managing online reputation

It would be best if you kept in mind several things while implementing online reputation management. A digital marketing certification will give in-depth insight into how the entire function is carried out. Some of those strategies are listed below:

  • Use Empathy

Sometimes the most effective ORM occurs before a negative comment or review. You should respond quickly when customers ask questions, whether they message you directly or post on social media.

According to a Clutch survey, 83 per cent of people expect responses to social media comments within one day or less, so don’t hold your breath. Prompt responses prevent dissatisfied customers from leaving negative feedback and demonstrate that you value their assistance.

Responding with empathy is also crucial. Let the customer know you’re invested in finding a solution to their problem and that you’re there to help in the end.

  • Address the negativity first

It’s easy to dismiss negative feedback and reviews from customers. After all, why would you respond in a way that draws attention to them? But the truth is that ignoring dissatisfied customers is detrimental to your business. Ninety-seven per cent of the 82 per cent of customers who read online reviews also read the company’s responses. Responding to negative reviews demonstrates to customers that you will help them if they have a problem with your company.

Always respond to negative comments and reviews from customers. Patience and determination are required when dealing with their problem.

  • Ace the search results

Most marketers consider SEO the most important means of keeping their brand visible. However, it’s also an essential tool for reducing the visibility of negative press and content related to your brand.

When someone searches for your company name, you want your page to come up first. After all, customers are ten times more likely to click on the first search result than on a page 10 spots down, and the number one result on SERPs receives more than 31% of all clicks.

Monitor your brand’s search results in an incognito window to see what customers see. Competitors have the chance to bid on your branded keywords to appear first, so you may need to bid on your keywords to keep the top spot.

Conclusion

A Postgraduate Program in Digital Marketing  from Imarticus will give you an in-depth insight into conducting online reputation management functions. Apart from this, the course will also help you understand the basics of digital marketing and how to make use of it.