Online Reputation Management Process

Let us accept that data and information of sorts about a company exists online much before the company actually puts its Online Reputation Management strategy in place. Quite this move is propelled by negative online publicity or a strategy adopted by a competitor.

Thankfully, as the challenges are steep so are the tools and mechanisms to ensure a sparkling online reputation. There are many best practices available online.

We follow a process we call M-I-C-A-N-E.

                     

Monitor
Start monitoring 24 X 7 X 365 what is being said about the company or brand. This means monitor for keywords, blogs, messages, videos, tweets – everything. Understand what is crucial for your company and start with monitoring those high priority points. It can be the brand name, company name, top executives etc. Do some general keyword search and see what results do the search engines throw up?

Identify
What is the general online impression? What are people commonly stating? Are their some key opinion makers or it is random? Are they talking about the product and its features, availability (outlets), post-sales service, value for money? Which are the positive and negative inputs? Which are the sites where the density of inputs is more?

Compile and Sort
The information that has been identified will be vast. It has to be compiled in a proper format and sorted based on pre-determined parameters like functional aspects, prioritizing the criticality of views, segmenting them as say marketing, sales, pricing, technical issues. The parameters will be different for different business. Once compiled and sorted, it will through a list of A, B, C category of high, moderate and low importance.

Analyze
The high category issues which are mostly hurting online reputation needs analyses for type of response. It might require to be escalated to different key people in the business to provide a suitable answer or logic.

Neutralize and Convert
Expose yourself to the opinion makers. Applaud and publicize the supporters. Talk to the detractors and understand their concerns. Address the concerns to neutralize the extreme negative views. Give authentic explanations and accept when there is a fault. Listening to concerns and accepting some merit in them instead of outright refuting goes a long way in converting even outliers.

Engage
Proactively engage with people on various social media platform. Ask them to come forward and speak openly. Create followers. Gather leaders and experts to support your company or brand. They will bring in more supporters and do the job of word of mouth promotion. Give out structured information and even utilize inputs of a group while designing products or enhancing them. Involve them in key decisions that make them feel empowered and valuable. Often innovative ideas come out of these interactions. You are actually tapping onto the knowledge base of the masses. This is what creates a strong positive Online Reputation which results in revenues.
 
Continue the process in a planned schedule.
 

Executing the Online Reputation Management process M-I-C-A-N-E

It has become obligatory for all types of businesses to have their official presence on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn, Pinterest at the least. But the Internet is replete with many third-party sites and forums too spewing unimaginable quantum of views. It is virtually impossible for companies to monitor this barrage of information and sift through it efficiently within a tight timeframe.
 
This is where we come in. Get in touch with us to know more about how we can help you create a positive online reputation.