Avoid downplaying brand reputation management

The online landscape has changed so much this year, social media is the new buzz word, and the search market is not just about links, content or even paid search. The recession has also brought about renewed focus on conversions; it’s not just about traffic and rankings as it was a few years ago for many marketers. Social media has led companies to pay more attention to their brand presence / reputation online as they’ve seen how social media networks and the power of twitter can damage a brand and effect sales from a business perspective right down to personal brand. Are you really monitoring your brands / identity online effectively? Or are you still just listening or lurking?

Proactive VS Reactive

Monitoring your brand online and responding when there are potential problems is a fairly reactive approach, however, it can also be proactive if actions are taken to ensure you are not just listening but engaging your target audience.

Think of your brand reputation management tool as a plugin or addition to your current analytics package. Reputation management tools bring metrics such as influence and even sentiment into the mix. These, together with your analytics metrics, start to offer more insight into your online footprint and brand/site performance. So, why can’t monitoring your brand online be proactive? With the tools available we are able to see the sources of brand discussion and feedback, so why would this be any different to reviewing the performance of your traffic sources or referrals within your analytics package and creating a strategy to improve results?

Engagement

This is the opportunity for anyone to take a more proactive approach to the management of their brand online. To draw a comparison, the same approach used by offline sales reps who call clients each month to keep in touch, make sure they are happy, and see if there is perhaps anything that they may need (proactive), can also be applied to monitoring your brand online. You are able to take a more proactive approach and engage directly with your potential or current clients online. Build it and they will come no longer works, competition grows on a weekly, even daily basis, and online every bit counts. Engage directly with consumers online, nurture client relationships and understand your target market demographics. Should you be spending more time on Twitter, FaceBook, or LinkedIn, or any other site where your brand is being discussed? Always keep in mind, taking action for your brand online is like walking a tightrope, always make informed decisions.

Proactively looking at the information and taking action will result in happy clients/buyers (even potential new clients/buyers) and, ultimately, increased sales or even recurring sales. Why should the online market be so different to the traditional sales market?

Search trends change, Search engine algorithms change but happy clients/brand loyalists are bound to stay.

Tags: online reputation management, ORM