As the new year begins, it’s crucial we examine and re-evaluate our online reputation management strategy, especially considering the effect that the pandemic could have on brands and consumership. Having a positive online reputation will be more valuable than ever this year, as we are all currently confined to our homes and screens. A good online reputation management strategy and ORM tools are the key to successful digital marketing and customer relationships. Below is a list of the 5 best online reputation marketing strategy and practices for response management in 2023.
1. Have a Clear Online Reputation Management Strategy
This may seem obvious, but a lot of brands and online reputation management services dive straight into creating websites and social media channels without giving proper thought to how everything will come together to further the brand’s image. Not knowing and clearly communicating what your brand’s ideal image and profile should be to your team will lead to an unclear tone, style, and overall image of your brand. Before you begin putting your brand out there, you need to have a clear idea of what your brand’s online presence should look like. To manage your online reputation, you must consider competitors, where your brand is now, and what you wish to achieve with your brand.
2. Monitor Your Brand Efficiently
Once you have a ORM strategy and start working on it, you need to ensure that you’re monitoring your brand. Simply scrolling through social media and seeing your likes and comments won’t do it. To get the full picture of how your brand’s online reputation is going, you need to use an online reputation management tool such as Google Alerts. ORM tools will help you analyse what is working and what’s not and will provide a clear picture of how your brand’s reputation is doing online.
3. Use Social Media Influencers
A few bad online reviews and social media trolls can easily break your brand’s image- which is why social media influencers, whose audiences usually place a high amount of trust in them, can do wonders for your brand. Their audience has faith in the brands and products that their favourite influencers endorse. If your brand aligns with the influencers niche, it’s even better. A yoga instructor’s audience will trust the clothing brand she dawns while achieving her fitness goals. Having a partnership with an influencer where your brand consistently features in their posts and videos, would be the best marketing strategy. You would have guaranteed constituent positive reviews.
>4. Market Videos
Content marketing is an incredibly important part of online reputation management. In 2023, videos, testimonials, and live videos are becoming increasingly popular. Short videos are an easy, effortless way for customers to absorb information. Rather than spending a few minutes reading about your brand, a video as short as 30 seconds can explain everything potential customers need to know about your brand. Testimonials and live videos can also make your brand more trustworthy. Posting videos on social media and your website will help you achieve your ORM goal.
5. Have Positive Online Interactions Only
No matter how good your brand is, there will always be trolls. While complaints are valid, trolls are vicious and work to damage your brand’s online reputation and image. With a genuine complaint, you will be able to work with the customer to solve whatever the problem is, but with trolls, there will be no real complaint and no real constructive solution that you can provide.
The best practice is not to engage with trolls at all, and let your audience ascertain the value of the troll’s comment for themselves. It’s likely they’ll ignore the troll’s comment, especially if they see other positive interactions on the post or on your page in general. While you shouldn’t engage with trolls, you should engage with customers who leave positive reviews, compliments, or suggestions. Like their comment, thank them for using your brand, and make them feel valued as a customer.