What’s Online Reputation Management?

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Online reputation management (ORM) is a public relations tool used by businesses and individuals to shape how they appear online. It involves finding referrals, interacting with people online, generating referrals and positive content, and addressing the negative content you find online. A number of companies offer this service for a fee, and some companies maintain an online reputation management department in their public relations department, with one or more full-time employees responsible for managing the company’s online presentation.

With the explosion of social networking and user-generated content in the early 2000s, online reputation management has become an increasingly pressing concern for many individuals and businesses in the public eye. The ability to easily generate content, sometimes on sites designed specifically for product and service review and discussion, meant that both happy and angry customers could quickly reach a large audience with their thoughts and comments about companies and individuals. Companies that have failed to track how they are perceived on the internet could be in trouble.

In online reputation management, regular searches are performed to verify a company’s mentions and to explore the content of those mentions. Companies generally want to promote the positive references, burying the negative ones by addressing or drowning them with positive ones if possible. Using online reputation management allows businesses to reach out and interact directly with dissatisfied customers to resolve their issues, improve customer service, and manage their online presence. Many companies use social networking platforms to communicate directly with consumers with everything from product promotions to solicitations for suggestions on how they can improve.

Some companies offer services that bury or hide negative reviews and comments, typically generating positive content to force negative reviews further down the search engine rankings. However, this is only one component of online reputation management. Many consumers expect businesses to engage online, making a social media specialist a requirement for businesses looking to fully engage with customers, and businesses can use both positive and negative reviews as tools for improvement.

Tools people use to manage their online reputation include automated searches, profiles on social networking sites, blogs, and review site memberships. Businesses can also engage with customers by organizing events, handing out discounts and other promotional materials, seeking advice and reviews from high-profile online bloggers, and attending conferences dedicated to online communication, social networking, and Internet culture.

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