Chapter 11Online Reputation

ManagementLearning ObjectivesUnderstand that listening to the buzz online is a crucial step in the online reputation management processUnderstand how to analyze what is being said onlineLearn how to engage in and lead conversationLearn why it is important to engage in and lead conversationUnderstand the importance of constantly evolving your strategyLearn how brands can best recover from an online threat

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation

Customers do not use channels designated by a company to talk about that organization

The Internet makes it easy for a company to use the channels that customers have selected

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation

Online Reputation Management (ORM) allows the company to track: Mentions of itself Its staff Its products Its industry Its competitors

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation

In terms of the company, one can track the following:

Brand name URL Key products Key personnel (names, job titles, etc.)

In terms of the industry, one can track the following:

Conferences Patents News

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation

In terms of competitors, one can track the following: Brand names Product launches Web site updates Job vacancies

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation

When monitoring, the following need to be tracked:

Blogs Twitter News Forums Comment boards Photos

The First Step: Monitor the Conversation

Videos Job listings Events Patents Web site changes

The Second Step: Measure What’s Being Said by Whom

Take stock of the messages being sent by your own company, which includes: Web sites and domains owned by your

company Blogs maintained by employees Blogs maintained by former

employees Audit — Will give an idea of the content

that is available to the public and what that content is saying

The Second Step: Measure What’s Being Said by Whom

Not all mentions are equal online They vary in terms of positivity or

negativity and influence All mentions do not require action from

company Some mentions require drastic

measures from company All mentions are an indication of

consumer sentiment

The Second Step: Measure What’s Being Said by Whom

Whether a post is positive, negative, or indifferent can be quickly assessed by reading it; influence is a little harder to establish

Indicators (traffic, links, and subscriber numbers) can assist in assessing the influence of a blog

Influence assists in establishing the credibility of the author

Factors that indicate credibility Size of the blog’s audience Frequency of posts Age of the blog

The Third Step: Manage—Engaging In and Leading the

Conversation Engaging — The best way to show that you are

listening Positive comments — Should be acknowledged by the

company Neutral comments — Company is in danger of being

forgotten Negative comments — Should be seen as an

opportunity for growth by the company and dealt with Responding — Recognizing that consumers dictate

the channels of communication and that a company needs to go to the consumer, not the other way around

The Fourth Step: Maximize — Evolve Your Strategy

ORM provides an insight that can be applied to other elements of the business to maximize on results

In marketing, ORM provides key insights into how particular tactics are performing and how it impacts the overall marketing strategy

These outputs are shared with other departments

The insights are applied to the overall business strategy

Ten Rules to Recover from an Online Brand Attack

Humility Listen Act immediately If what they’re saying is false…. If what they’re saying is true….

Ten Rules to Recover from an Online Brand Attack

Keep the negative pages out of the search engines

Maintain communication Engage in the conversation Care Be prepared