Why Online Reputation Management is Necessary for Every Organization

We now live in a world where your reputation on the Internet can either be your biggest asset or your most worrisome liability. Which category you fall under, will depend largely on whether you take online reputation seriously and take steps to track and manage it, or not. No organization, no matter how big or small can now afford to ignore how it’s perceived by people who spend several hours on the Internet every week. Given the fact that content travels at lightning-fast speed on social networking sites, one negative review, article or video can cost an organization millions of dollars. Let’s look at some of the most important reasons why online reputation management is necessary for every organization in this age of information.

Avoid Losing Potential Customers by Managing Your Online Reputation

Nowadays, people run online searches before they place an order or buy a subscription online. Many people do so even when they shop at local stores or hire a local service provider.

When people run a background check on a brand, product, or service, it’s considered a good thing; such people are likely to be deep in the conversion funnel. In that sense, it’s an opportunity to generate more business.

However, business organizations risk losing as many as 22% of potential customers when a potential customer comes across just one negative article on the first page of their search results while considering to buy a product or service.

If the search queries produce three negative results, a business organization can lose 59.2% of potential customers.

This is why it is important to keep page 1 of an organization’s Google search results clean of any adverse reviews or negative content. Having just one negative article pop up in search results can cost you a big chunk of potential customers researching your brand, products, or services.

So, make sure to use reliable SEO tools, hire experts who know how to rank positive content about your brand higher up in Google search results, and have a dedicated team tracking your organization’s reputation online.

The benefits of a good online reputation far outweigh the costs you’d incur on tracking and managing it.

Creative Fraudsters Can Steal Your Good Name

Creative fraudsters often exploit successful and reputed organizations’ names to run social media and email scams.

For instance, someone might set up an ‘Amazon Thailand Support’ account on Twitter, gain a few thousand fake followers, and offer to help unsuspecting customers who are yet to receive their parcels by paying customs fees directly to them.

Before these customers even realize they’ve been duped by a crook, they may say things both in the real world and in the virtual space that can hurt the company’s reputation in the country and cause of loss of business.

When someone impersonates your organization on the Internet, whether in the form of a social media profile, a website or an email ID, you need to react fast and do so decisively. There’s no time to lose.

To minimize the potential damage, your online reputation management plan would need ready protocols to deal with such exigencies.

Don’t Let Negative Feedback Turn into a Crisis

Not just large-scale organizations, small and medium scale enterprises also need to understand the simple fact that planning is crucial when it comes to protecting their reputation on the Internet. The virality of outrage, however, is generally in proportion to the popularity of a brand.

In any case, negative feedback needs to be handled quickly before it turns into a crisis. It is, however, equally important not to overreact.

On many occasions, it’s not an unhappy customer who sets a stream of ‘Bad Customer Service,’ ‘Irresponsible Company,’ or ‘Unethical Business Practice’ related Hashtags rolling.

For instance, Mountain Dew launched a ‘Puppy Monkey Baby’ Super Bowl commercial to stand out from everyone else. The campaign fetched millions of views on YouTube, hundreds and thousands of mentions on Twitter, and ample press coverage for several months. But, more than half of the buzz around the campaign turned out to be negative.

When things go wrong (at some point, they will), it is important that you don’t allow a developing situation to turn into a crisis.

You can act on time only if you plan ahead or have a competent team of professionals handling your organization’s online reputation.

Attract the Talent that Takes Your Organization to Newer Heights

An organization, whether it’s a business entity, social enterprise, educational institution, political party,   or NGO (Non-governmental organization), is only as good as the people driving it.

Every organization needs talented people, who are driven by passion and zeal.

Besides various perks and benefits, it’s your organization’s reputation that can drive in applications in high numbers for any vacant positions.

It’s no secret that anyone looking to join your organization, even if in a junior role, will do his or her research online before applying for a job opening or accepting an interview call.

If too many disgruntled ex-employees or dodgy competitors have ruined your reputation on employee-facing review platforms such as Indeed and Glassdoor, it can have an adverse impact on your recruitment efforts.

People Trust People When They Pick an Organization  

People trust other people in real life. They believe in the word of mouth and buy a product or choose a service provider who is admired by a friend, relative, or neighbor.

As in real life, people on the Internet also trust other people. Nearly four out of five people tend to trust online reviews just as much as a personal recommendation.

We, humans, are after all wired to respond to social proof.

This is the reason why it’s important not to ignore negative reviews on customer-facing platforms such as Google and Yelp. Doing so can negatively impact your sales even if you don’t sell anything online! About nine out of ten people check online reviews before visiting a business in-person.

But if you take online reputation management seriously and achieve a one-star increase on Yelp, you stand to increase your revenue by 5 to 9%.

Depending upon the area of operation, an organization should monitor both positive and negative reviews on different platforms and respond when necessary.

Organizations active in the travel and hospital instance, for example, need to monitor TripAdvisor. Similarly, healthcare practices need to take HealthGrades more seriously and lawyers cannot afford to ignore Avvo.

Final Words

Much like real life, the online reputation of an organization is not easy to keep track of. In comparison to the online space, it’s easier to shrug off gossip or dodge false allegations in real life and move on.

Unhappy customers, frustrated vendors, disgruntled ex-employees, or ruthless competitors can hurt your organization’s reputation in more ways than you can possibly imagine. It’s scary, yes. But, you mustn’t ignore it. You ought to carefully monitor and manage your organization’s online reputation.

Some organizations may at best need to keep track of what their customers, vendors or employees are writing about their products, services, work culture, etc. on social media or review platforms, others may need to monitor public opinion about their business practices, CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives, marketing campaigns, etc.  An expert can best guide you on how to get started.

Lastly, online reputation management isn’t just about countering the negative narrative. It’s equally important to strengthen the positive narrative about your brand and offerings.

Author Bio

Simon is one of the founders and head of operations at 405 Ads. Simon serves as an online marketing manager to businesses and agencies worldwide. His overall business and marketing experience has helped hundreds of business owners get their presence done right when it comes to today’s online world.

Featured Image Courtesy: Pixabay