Who will need Online Reputation Management (ORM)?
While talking about brand reputation strategy, online reputation management has a key role in it. On the other hand, Brand protection and reputation are the biggest concerns for the businessmen, which can only be achieved through ORM. But, the question is, “who will need online reputation management, Company or a company owner?”
Every business will agree that developing a brand reputation and goodwill is a result of efforts, time, and skills, which a CEO and his team put in to reach this specific position. If there is a flaw in it, it will damage the whole, and no company wants to lose this position.
In the current digital world, only a small negative comment or scam allegations, the businesses can face some serious consequences. These consequences can be in the form of lower sales, low ROI, and low traffic on the website. The damage control in this situation can become almost impossible if the company is not using ORM for maintaining its reputation.
The digital marketing experts have forbidden leaving the negative comments and reviews unattended. They consider it a bottom line for the business, as it will hurt the whole image of the company. The reason is that potential customers are always in search of finding your products, and if there will be negative remarks, you will lose them. The buzzing words about a company largely influence customer decisions, and due to the independent digital world, it will let you down drastically. Due to this, you, as a company or as a CEO of the company, need to keep yourself on toes and monitor your online reputation without pauses and delays.
Till now, we have discussed the overall importance of online reputation management. Now, we will look who needs it more.
Why does management need ORM?
In addition to the overall impact, faced by the company with or without online reputation management, the management also develops and executes long-term strategies. If there is negativity due to the comments, reviews, or ratings via search engines or social media pages, the management will face the problems in implementing these strategies. The negative reputation will impact the regular business activities that will impact the whole strategy, which means the business objectives and goals will not be achieved in a specific time.
Online reputation management helps the management keep an eye on the performance of a product or service as well. Customer feedback tells the management what it is providing to the customers and what is their behavior related to it. It helps them revise the strategy, improve quality, and address other issues related to marketing, sales, and distribution, etc.
The management will also be able with ORM to identify the loopholes in the staff as well because sometimes, there may be faults in providing customer support, dealing with the customers, promotional strategy, product presentation, and competitor analysis. When the customer comments or gives reviews, it identifies the issues related to a specific department. In such cases, the management takes specific decisions as per the requirement.
As the higher management has no time to involve in small issues, but it does not mean that the CEO and directors will not face the consequences in the case of bad reputation about the company or a specific product, so it becomes necessary for the organizations to involve online reputation management teams that will keep an eye all the time on all those comments, reviews or ratings that identify the exact performance of a company, overall or specific.
The region can be the issue some time. In the case of facing online reputation issues in a specific area, the management scrutinizes the situation and suggests changes to the management of that region. The matter of fact is that a company has a good reputation in a country, but the same company is suffering somewhere else. ORM helps the management get information about a specific product in a specific region.
The last but not the least is that the personal reputation of the managerial staff, especially the CEOs, MDs, marketing heads, and directors also reflects the company’s reputation. It is just like the reputation of a company affects the management reputation in the market. Sometimes, the personal reputation attracts the customers as well, as people also get influenced by the personalities as well. For example, Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO of Facebook. Now, if he launches a new online product, people will get influenced and try to use it in any case.
Why does the business need ORM?
Moving fast and breaking trends is the aim of any business. The companies think that the delay in the launch may help the competitors launch their product before and capture the market. For many businesses, it works well. They think that the earlier launching will help them fix the glitches, make the tweaks, solve the issues, and keep ahead of the competitors.
However, it can damage the online reputation of the market. “Fix it later” approach can create a devastating situation for the business. ORM keeps the management alive and if there are some negative reviews, it can be addressed right at the time when they occur. Some companies do not like online reputation management, as it does not allow the businesses to take risks, as it always identifies that a small mistake can spoil the whole effort regarding brand development.
The businesses also need to consider the facts regarding ORM. According to a survey, more than 54% of digital marketing experts, a business cannot ignore online reputation management if there is an aim to get success in online business.
The businesses can also get immediate responses from their customers and respond to them within a specific time with the help of ORM. In the absence of ORM, the replies can be delayed that will destroy your reputation in the market, and you will not be informed.
By using social media, businesses can improve the brand reputation, and if there are some negative comments, ORM jumps in and helps you modify or change the quality of the product.
Concluding Remarks
As more individuals are using social media for buying products and commenting about them, the role of online reputation management is also increasing in building the brand reputation. The story does not end here as online reputation has become equally important for the managerial staff as well. Personal reputation is now correlating with the company reputation, as if you have a good reputation in the market as a CEO, your product will get also get acceptance and vice versa.