How to manage a business's reputation online? 

When we hear of reputation management and PR companies, we think it is mainly for celebrities and big companies. Smaller companies, however, have a different perception about this fact. They are less concerned about what their consumers have to say about them. But did you know that your business reputation is what drives traffic to your website? In fact, it increases your potential customers. If you are still wondering whether your local business needs an online reputation management tool, read ahead. 

With an online reputation management system, you can monitor and ensure your business is represented well on the internet. Since most small businesses don't have the resources to monitor online reputation, they tend to fall behind in this category. Reputation management is all about monitoring reputation, addressing customer feedback that could damage the brand. Moreover, also using strategies to prevent and solve problems that could possibly damage a firm's reputation.

 

How Online Reputation Management works 

ORM systems ensure that your business gets an appropriate presentation on the web. With the availability of the internet, there are a lot of channels that are considered when it comes to managing reputation online. For instance, there is paid media, earned media, influencers, partnerships, and owned media. Therefore, we will discuss the channels of reputation management here. 

 

1. Paid Media – In simple words, paid media refers to all the posts you sponsor on various handles. Any advertisement that attracts traffic to your site because of promotion on another platform is paid media. It includes Facebook or Twitter sponsored posts. All types of payment you do to promote your business on any social platform.  
2. Earned Media- Contrary to the paid media, earned media is all about any material or content written about your business or product by a third party. It is one sort of publicity; you earn all the attention that’s why it is called earned media. It is a great way to gain the attention of the public through press releases, blogs, word-of-mouth, etc. 
3. Shared Media- This is the most cost-effective form of managing and promoting your business reputation. Shared media is basically any content posted to social media regarding your brand, which businesses are adopted. This includes posts to social sharing sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram. 
4. Owned Media- As the name suggests, owned media is anything such as blogs, podcasts, eBooks, and your own websites. So, work on improving the ranking of the pages. Those that are of utmost importance to your brand’s reputation and perception. The more owned media channels a business has, the larger its digital footprint. Therefore, which means more potential reach to customers and followers. 

 Conclusion

You may find multiple channels that manage your brand’s reputation across the web. Customers search for restaurants, grocery shops, barbershops, or any other business on the internet nowadays. What the business listing platforms like Yelp and Google My Business do is that verify your business and display it on the search list.

No matter what business you are in, people will talk about your business. You also need to be open to both negative and positive reviews. Do not take the risk of underestimating the social media world. Your online reputation can influence your customers and affect your sales. According to a survey, 90% of consumers check online reviews before buying a product or service. Read more blogs related to reputation management here.