Why is e-Reputation So Important?

Online reputation is important in digital marketing. As social media continues to expand, so do third-party review sites and other marketing platforms such as blogs central to good online reputations. More than ever, businesses see the reason why it is crucial to maintain a solid brand online and allocate resources to ORM. Online reputation is vital because people trust reviews, and bad reviews could harm your good reputation. Therefore, companies must maintain build trust and earn a positive business reputation.

Interesting Statistics about Online Reputation Management

• Over half of digital marketers consider online (positive) reputation as necessary for the success of their company.


• Companies benefit in sales by up to 25% when they invest in online reputation management


• Up to 46% of businesses monitor their business reputation online to ensure the company stays ahead of the game.


• Up to 70% of businesses use in-house employees to manage their online reputation management within the company.

How Can You Stay Ahead of the Game?

• Reviews

Reviews online come in different forms and can make or break your reputation. Companies such as Indeed and Glassdoor will impact recruitment while search engines like Google and Yelp reviews will affect sales. Some of these platforms are also industry-based such as Avvo for lawyers, TripAdvisor for travel and hospitality, and HealthGrades for doctors and all these can be used by different people. A positive review is great for your company because most individuals trust online reviews as much word of mouth. Thankfully, you can shield yourself against negative review bias by garnering positive reviews from customers and employees in the long-term and rebuild a new, better brand for the consumers.

• Publish valuable content

If you have helpful, outstanding info, you will win the hearts of many potential customers as winning information influences the buying decisions of people. They use digital content to research and eventually purchase. They go a long way in the sales funnel before involving a sales representative. A strong digital strategy allows you to retain old customers, get new ones and grants you sales opportunities. You can use blog posts and do case studies or invest in webinars and white paper, depending on your audience’s preference for an affirmitive reputation.

• Audit your online reputation

If you have a positive online reputation, customers will likely find an impressive array of information about your online presence. Otherwise, you need to work on ensuring that the first impression earns you a customer. While reviews can cost you a customer, there are other risk factors such as conflicting CTAs and inconsistencies in messages that can affect the business. You may want to look through your social media profiles and search results to find any loopholes that may cost your business or hire professionals to help curb any chance of negative online backlash.

• Social media

This is one of the main channels through which brands engage with their audience. One of the reasons why social media channels, you can control messages and know what your audience thinks of the business online and help establish a path for positive feedback. A good profile will showcase your business culture, services and products, industry news, personality, and other valuable content. Use as many of these platforms as possible as a relatively unknown network today could be the next big thing tomorrow much like Facebook.

• Work through the negativity

Negative reviews and news are unpredictable and even the best reputation monitoring, a single online review can undo your hard work, and a storm can hit you at any time. It is difficult to control everything all at once no matter how much you try. During such times, it is crucial that you wither the storm by keeping on. Save your business by turning around the negative brand image in the long-term.