Nikita Prokhorov, is a marketing, online reputation and communication expert, public speaker and author. Partner in Arctic Ventures.
Reputation has become a crucial asset for business. An inappropriate statement can lead to the loss of career opportunities, advertising contracts and market position. Conversely, relevant actions can open up new opportunities, increase demand for products and attract more followers on social media.
Reputation is an institution that any company or public figure can and should work with both offline and online. Online reputation management, or ORM for short, is a process that involves monitoring the information field, addressing online mentions of an individual or brand, social media marketing (SMM), search engine reputation management (SERM), public relations (PR), influence marketing and removing unwanted information.
Reputation management, like any other technological process, is constantly evolving. In this article, I have selected the six significant trends for those interested in managing their online reputation.
1. Monitor public opinion.
In order to effectively manage your reputation, it is important to constantly evaluate. This can be done by monitoring through special systems such as Brandwatch, Talkwalker and others. There are three main types of monitoring based on frequency:
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• At least once a day, you should check for any crisis points related to your brand and assess the attitudes of your target audience.
• Once a month, you should monitor changes in user loyalty online. You can also evaluate the effectiveness of advertising and PR campaigns on a monthly basis. This will help you identify which channels are working best and how users respond to different types of content and influencers.
• Once a quarter, you can conduct market and competitor research to gain insights and adjust your marketing strategy if necessary.
Doing this will allow you to:
• Detect problems at an early stage and address them promptly. This way, any negative impact doesn’t have time to spread and gain additional coverage among users; you can then localize the issue on a single platform.
• Get a broader perspective. Take into account what users are worried about and work with this information
2. Devote time and resources to community management.
According to research conducted by the University of Michigan, members of brand communities spend 19% more money online compared to ordinary customers. To increase sales, it is essential not only to create these communities but also to actively engage with them. This includes providing advice to both existing and potential customers, resolving disputes, responding to complaints and dispelling myths surrounding a product or brand.
By community, I mean not only groups on social media, but also offline groups. For example, motorcycle enthusiasts, Tolkien fans and fans of certain car brands like BMW and Mercedes. These groups can support the brand at events, post about it online and create user-generated content.
3. Increase the speed of your communication.
According to HubSpot research, 63% of social media users expect a response from a brand within one hour. If they don’t receive a response within this time frame, they may leave negative reviews, refuse to purchase products in the future, or not recommend the brand to their friends and family. On the other hand, a quick response from the brand encourages 34% of users to make additional purchases.
4. Say no to scripts and templates.
A study by Sproul Social highlights just how important it is for individuality and personalization to come through in your communication with customers—especially when it comes to maintaining your reputation.
Therefore, instead of using strict scripts, I recommend taking an individual approach and creating a response map or matrix. This map includes the basics of working with an audience: The tone of voice, the main question groups and their talking points, and priority resources.
While it is true that there are times when it may be impractical to abandon scripts entirely, in these cases, it is important to provide your team with a script builder so that they can create unique responses. Consider the following:
• Response structure.
• Format in which the user is addressed (first name/last name).
• Requests for additional information and how it should be communicated to the brand (email, messengers, website).
• Expressions of regret about the client’s problems, if necessary.
• Gratitude for feedback.
• Timing of responses.
• Words of farewell.
5. Take advantage of user-generated content.
Statistics show that 70% of customers are willing to provide feedback when asked. You can offer several ways for them to provide feedback: Push notifications, SMS or messenger, email, your website or social media. You could also add a QR code that takes them to a page with reviews, sales receipts, business cards or promotional materials.
Remember to encourage users to not only leave reviews but also use bonus points or other loyalty program benefits. However, it's important to never ask for specific positive feedback—this will be seen as manipulation.
6. Work with marketplaces.
According to a Dimensional Research survey, 90% of online purchases are made based on reviews. These reviews also determine the ranking and popularity of products on marketplaces like Amazon. Both these factors determine where a product ranks in search results. Therefore, it is important not only to encourage customers to leave reviews on marketplaces but also to respond to them on behalf of the brand.
Don't forget to work on your product description. According to a survey conducted by Salsify, 87% of online shoppers say that product content, including the product description, plays a crucial role in their purchasing decisions. While it's important not to overload your description with unnecessary information, it's also crucial not to make it too brief. Be sure to include high-quality images and videos—according to the same survey, 66% of consumers prefer seeing images of the product before making a purchase.
Reputation management is ever-evolving.
Every year, new trends in reputation management emerge. Perhaps next year, we will be utilizing neural networks, adaptive AI systems and metaverses for reputation management.
Therefore, in addition to utilizing the techniques I have discussed in this article, I recommend staying informed about new technologies that we'll likely soon be employing within the field of online reputation management.
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