Online reputation management

online reputation logo

You wake up in the morning on the wrong foot, because the neighbor upstairs has already made noise. It's one of those days that you don't want to go to work. You make yourself a coffee, and when you go out to the street while you think about your things, the distraction makes you stumble over something you had not seen. There are several options, among them continue as if nothing had happened waiting for the day to be fixed, or start screaming and spouting nonsense from the rooftops. You scream, and now is when things get interesting, some potential clients of yours have seen it.

This is extreme. But also now, those potential clients have the need to spread the news about what happened among others acquaintances who know require your services. And the thing spreads ... What would happen if negative comments began to proliferate around your brand or company? More and more, people have the option of looking for references about a company on the internet. And here, in the spirit of washing the image, is when Online Reputation Management appears.

What is Online Reputation Management?

Assessing online reputation

La Online Reputation Management ORM (Online Reputation Manegement) arises from the need to be able to control the information that flows through the internet of virtual businesses. Such amount of opinions, evaluations, or texts that directly influence a brand or company, greatly condition the expectations that users and potential customers can generate. Taking care of this image, and that positive comments stand out first and negative ones less visible, is only achieved through online reputation management.

Good or bad reviews around a brand end up determining the decision to purchase the product. or service by the consumer. It is very important that for the proper functioning of the business, you know how to properly manage your online reputation. For example, if we have to take a vacation trip, and we want to make sure that everything goes smoothly and without incident, we will rarely end up evaluating well the services of a hotel or airline that have constantly received complaints from their users.

How to process the online reputation that revolves around us?

There are to pay attention to the most recurring complaints that consumers can show. If we had a greengrocer, and several user reviews commented that our products are in poor condition, we could pay special attention to them. On the contrary, if there is a review that says that I am rude, when our inputs are otherwise, that we are pleasant, it would not be as important a point to improve as the previous one.

Improve online reputation

Users like to be heard, and to see that their criticisms have shifted towards where they considered best. For that very reason, tackling problems that are repeated or encountered frequently, will cause them to be eradicated, with the following benefits:

  1. We will solve the problems that led to a bad reputation.
  2. Income will start to increase.
  3. The number of satisfied customers will increase, and with it their positive evaluations.
  4. We will really know what our strengths are.

Once our strengths are known, we can enhance and / or promote what we are sure we excel at. Proper management of our online reputation can become a loop that provides positive feedback.

A good example of this, we find it in many brands, such as Apple. We all know Apple, and also that its products are expensive. But their quality and service are so good that people even put their stickers on their cars. Let's not talk about other brands like Harley Davidson, where their consumers even get the brand tattooed on their own skin.

How to act if we are under a reputation crisis?

bad reputation online

A reputational crisis can arise quite suddenly. Usually, it is usually the direct consequence of mismanagement in solving a problem. If a client has a complaint, the best we can do is offer a solution that is fast, efficient, and meets expectations, if they are better than expected, better.

A lack of empathy, delayed resolution, off-color words, or anything that instead of calming or fixing the situation worsens it, we could have problems in the image of the brand.

A good example was from the fashion chain Zara, where in 2014 they took out a shirt that had an uncanny resemblance to the pajamas worn by Jews when they were incarcerated, in World War II. Quickly, as is correct in these cases, the brand rushed to release a statement. All good, until he said that they were going to "exterminate" all the shirts on the market. And unwittingly, a wave of criticism came over them, for not knowing how to manage it properly.

Adequate Solutions

  1. In the first place, and being the most important and overlooked. Create a strategic plan of action in the face of a reputational crisis. Having a framework to act accordingly in delicate moments will allow us to make decisions in tense moments.
  2. Immediate and fast. We do not want to see how a barrage of bad reviews begin to proliferate, further embedding the evil. For this reason, focusing efforts to solve the situation in the first hours is key.
  3. If the problem is on social media, we must apply good internal management. Appoint a person in charge of each area who speaks with only one voice and have direct ways to communicate with them. In addition, establishing an internal communication channel with all workers, and keeping the person in charge informed and updated, will help a lot in handling the crisis.
  4. If we have a good internal management base, and having created the correct protocols for action and monitoring of the root of the problem, it should be simple find focus. And there we will have to focus.
  5. Apologize and be honest. Everyone appreciates a forgiveness if we add the acknowledgment that something has been done wrong.
  6. During the management you make a mistake, or do you say something that is not appropriate? Don't delete the comment. All the more so if someone has read it. Nobody perceives that in a positive way. Instead, generate another post apologizing or admitting that there was a mistake in the process. Always redirecting the situation.

Learn from mistakes

improve internet reputation

After the mistake, we should learn what have been the weak points in our online reputation management. After solving a problem, this is usually a good time to reformulate the action protocols that we had previously established.

We hope that from now on, you will not have to suffer a crisis, and if at any time it assails, this article has helped in a good management.


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