Today internet is the new social platform. People share what they just did. Whether it’s a dinner at a new restaurant or a massage at a spa, people are sharing what they like or dislike almost immediately. Companies and businesses are worried more about the online reputation than the offline one. While some companies have taken the wise step to hire a specialist to manage their reputation, others do it themselves. A smaller chunk of companies do exist that do not worry about their online reputation at all. However, such companies should understand the importance of Reputation Management.
The Growing Concept of Online Reputation
Online experts maintain that if the company does not consider Reputation Management, others including competitors do that for the company. This might involve manipulation and negative reviews online. Hence, a company should come forward before it is too late to manage their online reputation. A harm once done is hard to treat, effectively. The reason for this is that nothing is deleted from the internet; it stays there forever even if the company has removed it. The way people search for content has changed. One can opt for universal search, enhanced results, personalized search and many other things now. With the growth of opportunities, it has become quite difficult for a company to protect their brands from comments, videos, blog posts, or review sites. Even legal courts take online comments into account nowadays. With online Reputation Management, one can prevent negativity getting spread.
The People Whom Reputation Matters
Most companies assume that Reputation Management only matters to customers, and as long as they are taking good care of customers from that part on, they’re in the clear. However, things have changed. Online reputation is seen by a number of people for different reasons. It begins with an employee, who checks out the reputation of the company before joining. The customers that check before purchasing the product or service, and even business partners or investors check out the company and its news online before making alliances or investing in projects. Even stock holders hit the search engine to know more about the company. In addition, journalists, marketers and even personal contacts check out the reputation of the company in the market. This makes Reputation Management an important on-going activity.
Negative Things that affect Online Reputation
While there are customers who post positive experience with the product or service of the company. More often then not, positive experience customers don’t have the drive or ambition to go to the process of leaving a review, compared to a negative experience which fuels the drive for payback to seek relief. This influences the company considerably. This is because it creates a domino effect and customers start avoiding the products based on the pattern and assumption online reviews provide.
Things that affect the Reputation Management of a company are:
- Negative Reviews: This is probably the biggest thing that affects the reputation of the company online. There are a number of review sites available online. These sites are very easy to access and one can recommend or advice people not to use a particular product, ultimately influencing Reputation Management.
2. Hate Sites: Some people design hate sites and invite other people to join it for condemning the product or service of a particular company.
3. Negative Public Relations: A single wrong step or event can start a wildfire on the Internet and this affects the Reputation of the company for long time.
