by samIn the last few years, Internet marketers have realised the benefits of ploughing energy into their SMO campaigns. While social media has many uses for those wishing to be successful online, one of the main advantages is the influence they are given in maintaining the reputations of their brands. As social media offers a personalised means of interacting with customers, online reputation management (ORM) has become a staple in all Internet marketing activity. In many ways, ORM is an ongoing process.
Businesses aiming to satisfy their customers will be vigilant and responsive at all times. It is now common practice for dissatisfied customers to voice their opinions through their chosen social media channel, subsequent satisfaction is based on how quickly and thoroughly brands address these issues online. should use their discretion as to what issues need addressing, there are often those who will intentionally try to rile you. Brands must maintain their company voice and focus on those customers who have expressed legitimate dissatisfaction.
As social media platforms continue to pop up, brands may find their time and attention spread across multiple platforms. Although Facebook and Twitter are the most common platforms for businesses online, there are many specialised platforms that customers may use to voice their concerns. Brands must be aware of what impact these voices are likely to have and take the appropriate measures to compensate. A brand’s ability to address issues is dependent on them knowing that they exist. There are a variety of searches online that enable digital marketing agencies to keep track of conversations involving their brands. In the case of Twitter, this feature is built in via the trend search, but for wider platforms such as blogs and message boards, a Google search will provide options.
ORM isn’t limited to social media alone. SEO companies often use SEO techniques to minimise the impact of detrimental content. If a dissatisfied customer writes a blog focused on the negative aspects of your service and the blog receives attention from a credible source (inbound links), the negative content could work its way to the first page of the search engine results page. It might be the case that these claims are unwarranted and could inflict permanent damage to the brand. It’s in the best interest of creative advertising agencies to limit the exposure of the content.
They do this by harnessing their reach online and distributing content that ranks higher than the detrimental listings, pushing them down, and monitoring the negative listing to ensure that it doesn’t reappear. In these cases, social media profiles often prove useful, as when searching a brand’s name, the top 10 results are usually populated by the brand’s social media profiles.