Online Reputation Management 101

Want to improve how people see your business online?

Online reputation management software can help.

This tool lets you keep track of and reply to customer reviews on different websites.

It helps you maintain a good image and attract more customers.

Discover how this software can enhance your online presence and help your business grow.

What is an Online Reputation Management Platform?

Online Reputation Management (ORM) involves monitoring, influencing, and maintaining the perception of a business or individual on the internet.

This process includes managing customer reviews, social media interactions, and online mentions to ensure a positive online presence.

Here’s a detailed look at what ORM entails:

Key Components of Online Reputation Management

1. Monitoring Online Mentions

• Tracking Brand Mentions: Use tools to track where and how your brand is mentioned across the web, including social media, review sites, forums, blogs, and news sites.
• Sentiment Analysis: Analyze the sentiment of these mentions (positive, neutral, or negative) to understand public perception.

2. Managing Customer Reviews

• Collecting Reviews: Encourage customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and industry-specific review sites.
• Responding to Reviews: Actively respond to both positive and negative reviews to show engagement and address any concerns.
• Automating Requests: Use review management software to automate the process of requesting and managing reviews.

Setting up a proper review syndication process can be really helpful!

3. Handling Negative Feedback

• Prompt Responses: Quickly address negative feedback to resolve issues and demonstrate commitment to customer satisfaction.
• Problem Resolution: Offer solutions and follow up with customers to ensure their issues are resolved.
• Learning from Feedback: Use negative feedback constructively to improve products or services.

4. Building Positive Content

• Content Creation: Create and promote positive content such as blog posts, press releases, and social media updates to improve your online presence.
• SEO Optimization: Optimize this content for search engines to ensure it ranks highly and is visible to potential customers. Reputation management for SEO is more time-consuming than you’d initially think!

5. Engaging on Social Media

• Active Participation: Engage with your audience on social media by responding to comments, sharing updates, and participating in conversations.
• Community Building: Build a loyal online community by regularly interacting with followers and encouraging user-generated content.

6. Utilizing Online Reputation Management Tools

• Automated Monitoring: Use tools to automate the monitoring of online mentions and reviews.
• Comprehensive Dashboards: Utilize dashboards that provide an overview of your online reputation, highlighting key metrics and trends.

7. Crisis Management

• Preparedness: Have a plan in place to address potential PR crises quickly and effectively.
• Communication: Communicate transparently with your audience during a crisis to manage and mitigate negative impacts.

Importance of Online Reputation Management

1. Building Trust and Credibility

• A positive online reputation builds trust and credibility with potential customers. People are more likely to do business with a company they perceive as trustworthy and reliable.

2. Influencing Purchase Decisions

• Many consumers read reviews and research companies online before making purchasing decisions. A strong, positive online presence can significantly influence these decisions in your favor.

3. Enhancing Customer Satisfaction

• Actively managing and responding to feedback shows customers that you value their opinions, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty.

4. Improving Search Engine Rankings

• Positive reviews and regular engagement with your audience can improve your search engine rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find you online.

5. Mitigating Negative Publicity

• Effective ORM helps you quickly address and mitigate the impact of negative publicity, ensuring it doesn’t cause long-term damage to your reputation.

Online Reputation Management Strategy

An effective online reputation management strategy involves generating reviews, managing them efficiently, handling negative feedback, enhancing SEO, and measuring the success of your efforts.

Here’s a comprehensive approach step-by-step.

1. Generate Reviews

Reviews are a central part of online reputation management strategy. Keep requesting reviews actively to ensure a steady flow of positive reviews.

a. Request Reviews Actively:

• Send follow-up emails or text messages to customers after a purchase or service experience, asking them to leave a review.
• Use in-store signage or website prompts encouraging customers to share their feedback.

b. Automate Review Requests:

• Use review management software to automate review requests. This ensures consistency and increases the volume of feedback.
• Offer incentives like discounts or loyalty points for leaving reviews (while ensuring compliance with review platform policies).

c. Simplify the Process:

• Make it easy for customers to leave reviews by providing direct links to your review profiles on platforms like Google, Yelp, and industry-specific sites.

2. Manage Reviews with One Tool

Using online reputation management software helps you manage all your reviews from different platforms and review websites under one roof.

Import your online reviews into the reputation management tool to manage and use them effectively.

a. Use a Review Management Platform:

• Choose a tool that aggregates reviews from multiple platforms into one dashboard. This saves time and ensures you don’t miss any feedback.
• Ensure the tool offers features like review badge management, automated review requests, and social sharing.

b. Monitor Regularly:

• Set up notifications for new reviews to respond promptly.
• Regularly check the online reputation management dashboard to stay updated on customer feedback trends.

c. Centralize Responses:

• Respond to reviews as soon as they are posted. Some tools offer solutions for responding to reviews directly from the platform.

3. Handle Negative Feedback

Handling negative feedback promptly is crucial. It shows the commitment to customer satisfaction. This approach boosts online visibility and strengthens brand reputation.

By engaging with customers and addressing their concerns, you can turn negative reviews into positive outcomes, enhancing your online reputation and customer satisfaction.

a. Respond Promptly:

• Address negative reviews quickly to show you value customer feedback and are committed to resolving issues.
• Apologize sincerely, offer solutions, and invite the customer to continue the conversation privately to resolve the matter.

b. Analyze Feedback:

• Use sentiment analysis tools to identify common issues in negative reviews.
• Implement changes based on this feedback to improve your products or services.

c. Follow Up:

• After resolving an issue, follow up with the customer to ensure satisfaction.
• Encourage them to update their review if they’re happy with the resolution.

4. Enhance SEO

An online reputation management tool boosts search engine rankings by increasing visibility.

When you have good reviews all over the internet, you can build a more positive online reputation.

Look for software with features like review requests and media monitoring for a strong online presence and better search rankings.

a. Optimize Review Profiles:

• Complete and optimize your profiles on review sites with accurate business information, keywords, and high-quality images.
• Regularly update your profiles with fresh content and customer reviews.

b. Leverage Positive Reviews:

• Share positive reviews on your website and social media platforms to build credibility and enhance SEO.
• Use structured data markup (schema) to display star ratings in search engine results.

c. Encourage Keyword-Rich Reviews:

• Encourage customers to mention specific products or services in their reviews. This helps with keyword optimization for search engines.

5. Engage Internally and Externally

Keep your efforts consistent and have a presence in multiple channels, and engage your audience in different ways.

It’s also important to have buy-in for your strategy throughout the whole company.

a. Engage on Social Media:

• Share positive reviews and customer success stories on social media to amplify your reputation.
• Respond to mentions and comments about your business to engage with your audience and manage your reputation actively.

b. Encourage Employee Participation:

• Train employees to encourage customers to leave reviews and handle feedback professionally.
• Recognize and reward employees who receive positive mentions in reviews.

c. Maintain Consistency:

• Consistently monitor and manage reviews to maintain a positive online reputation.
• Regularly update your strategies based on changing trends and customer feedback.

6. Measure Success

It’s important to follow up on how your strategy is progressing, and what results you have generated.

a. Track Key Metrics:

• Monitor metrics such as the number of reviews, average star rating, response rate, and customer sentiment over time.
• Use the online reputation management platform’s reporting dashboards to gather insights.

b. Analyze Trends:

• Identify trends in customer feedback to understand areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.
• Compare performance across different review platforms to identify where you need to focus more efforts.

c. Calculate ROI:

• Assess the impact of your online reputation management efforts on customer acquisition, retention, and overall sales.
• Consider the costs of the tools and weigh them against the benefits gained in terms of improved reputation and increased revenue.

10 Best Online Reputation Management Platforms

Choosing the right online reputation management (ORM) platform is crucial for effectively managing your online presence.

Here are ten of the best ORM platforms available:

1. Trustmary

Trustmary helps businesses efficiently manage customer reviews and improve their online reputation. It goes more under the category of review management software, as it’s heavily focused on reviews and testimonials.

It offers features such as review management, automated review requests, and social sharing.

Trustmary also provides tools for feedback collection, boosting SEO with review schema, integrations with review sites and your own website, a public review page, and much more.

In addition, it lets you add a trust badge or a branded Google review badge on your website to boost customer trust.

Looking for Trustmary alternatives? I got ya!

2. Birdeye

Birdeye is a comprehensive platform for managing customer reviews across various platforms like social media and directories. It includes features like review badge management, review requests, social sharing, sentiment analysis, and detailed reporting dashboards to track online visibility and brand reputation.

3. Brand24

Brand24 is great for monitoring and responding to reviews across multiple platforms. It uses sentiment analysis and social listening to keep businesses updated on customer trends and insights. Additional features include review badge management, review requests, and social sharing, supporting word-of-mouth marketing.

4. ReviewTrackers

ReviewTrackers offers a centralized dashboard to manage reviews from different platforms. It provides tools for review badge management, review requests, social sharing, sentiment analysis, and detailed reporting. The platform also includes notification alerts for new reviews, ensuring quick responses to customer feedback.

5. Podium

Podium helps businesses manage and respond to reviews from various platforms. It offers features like review badge management, review requests, social sharing, sentiment analysis, and notification alerts for negative feedback. Podium’s reporting dashboard helps track the success of online reputation efforts and analyze customer trends.

6. Yotpo

Yotpo stands out with its features for review requests, social sharing, and review badge management. It also offers sentiment analysis, reporting dashboards, and social listening to track customer trends and enhance engagement and trust. Yotpo provides comprehensive reporting and campaign management tools suitable for businesses of all sizes.

7. ReviewFlowz

ReviewFlowz helps businesses manage customer reviews across various platforms. It offers review badge management, review requests, social sharing, sentiment analysis, and a reporting dashboard that provides insights into customer trends and campaign management. The platform also handles negative feedback effectively.

8. Grade.us

Grade.us is a robust review management software with features like review badge management, review requests, and social sharing. It provides sentiment analysis, social listening, and a reporting dashboard to track online reputation and customer trends. Grade.us is suitable for small businesses and SaaS companies looking to boost their online presence.

9. TrustIndex

TrustIndex measures customer trust and satisfaction from reviews. It offers sentiment analysis, social listening, review badge management, and social sharing to maintain a positive online brand reputation.

TrustIndex provides reporting dashboards for insights into customer trends and satisfaction.

10. Reviews.io

Reviews.io helps businesses manage their online reputation by collecting and displaying customer reviews. It includes features like sentiment analysis, reporting dashboards, review badge management, and review requests. The platform is user-friendly and accessible, catering to businesses of all sizes looking to enhance their online presence through feedback management and word-of-mouth marketing.

Looking for the best Reviews.io alternative? Look no further!

How Do I Choose the Right Online Reputation Management Software for My Business?

You can start your online reputation management journey by exploring various options for free ORM software available online. These tools help you monitor and analyze online mentions, customer reviews, and social media interactions to enhance your online reputation.

Ensure the software integrates smoothly with your existing systems. Look for customer support options such as live chat, email, or phone assistance, which provide essential help in managing feedback and maintaining your brand reputation.

Features like reporting dashboards, online platforms integration, and social listening are beneficial for understanding trends and gaining insights into customer satisfaction. Consider pricing structures, the ability to request and respond to reviews, monitor negative feedback, and improve online visibility.

Select a solution with robust features, reliable customer support, and seamless integration capabilities. This approach enables you to manage your online reputation effectively, engage with customers across platforms, boost sales, and enhance search engine rankings.

For local businesses and SaaS companies, these tools often offer entry-level pricing options for managing customer engagement, trends, and insights. By using free ORM software, you can improve your online presence, boost customer satisfaction, and leverage word-of-mouth marketing without investing in expensive solutions.

Features to Look For in ORM Platforms

When choosing an ORM platform, consider the following features:

• Review Aggregation: Collect reviews from multiple sources into one dashboard.
• Automated Review Requests: Send automated emails or texts to customers requesting reviews.
• Review Responses: Respond to reviews directly from the platform.
• Sentiment Analysis: Analyze the sentiment of customer reviews.
• Reporting and Analytics: Gain insights and reports on review performance and trends.
• Integration: Integrate with other systems like CRM and social media platforms for seamless operations.
• Social Sharing: Share positive reviews on social media to enhance visibility.
• Review Badge Management: Display positive reviews on your website.
• Notification Alerts: Receive alerts for new reviews to respond promptly.

Difference Between Online Reputation Management Software and Review Management Software

We have mentioned both online reputation management software and review management software in this article.

How are they different, and what do they have in common?

Can you use them interchangeably?

There are some differences that you should take into consideration when choosing which platform to adopt for your business.

Focus and Scope

Online Reputation Management (ORM) Software:

• Broad Scope: ORM software encompasses a wide range of activities aimed at managing a business’s entire online presence.
• Brand Monitoring: It monitors all mentions of your brand across the internet, including social media, blogs, forums, news sites, and other platforms.
• Crisis Management: ORM tools help in addressing and mitigating the impact of negative publicity or crises that could harm the brand’s reputation.
• Content Management: It often includes features for content creation and dissemination to promote a positive image and counteract negative press.
• Competitor Analysis: Many ORM tools offer insights into competitors’ reputations, helping businesses understand their standing in the market.

Review Management Software:

• Narrow Focus: Review management software is specifically designed to handle customer reviews and feedback.
• Review Collection: It focuses on gathering reviews from various platforms like Google, Yelp, and industry-specific review sites.
• Review Response: Tools to respond to customer reviews directly from the platform, both positive and negative.
• Review Analysis: Provides sentiment analysis and detailed reporting on review trends to gain insights into customer satisfaction.
• Review Promotion: Features for promoting positive reviews on social media and embedding them on the business’s website.

Key Features

ORM Software:

• Brand Monitoring: Tracks brand mentions across the web.
• Sentiment Analysis: Analyzes the tone of mentions (positive, neutral, negative).
• Alert Systems: Sends alerts for critical mentions or sudden changes in sentiment.
• SEO and Content Marketing: Includes tools for content creation, SEO optimization, and distribution.
• Competitor Analysis: Tracks competitors’ online activities and reputation.
• Crisis Management: Offers strategies and tools for handling PR crises.

Review Management Software:

• Review Aggregation: Collects reviews from multiple sources into one dashboard.
• Automated Review Requests: Sends automated emails or texts to customers requesting reviews.
• Review Responses: Allows businesses to respond to reviews directly from the platform.
• Sentiment Analysis: Analyzes the sentiment of customer reviews.
• Reporting and Analytics: Provides insights and reports on review performance and trends.
• Integration: Integrates with other systems like CRM and social media platforms for seamless operations.

Use Cases

ORM Software:

• Large Enterprises: Suitable for large companies that need to manage their brand image across a wide range of online channels.
• PR and Marketing Agencies: Useful for agencies that handle public relations and digital marketing for multiple clients.
• Brands in Crisis: Ideal for brands that need to manage or recover from a reputation crisis.

Review Management Software:

• Small to Medium Businesses: Perfect for local businesses or SMEs focusing on improving customer feedback and engagement.
• Service Industries: Beneficial for industries heavily reliant on customer reviews, such as hospitality, healthcare, and retail.
• E-commerce Platforms: Helps online stores manage customer feedback and reviews on their products.

Manage Your Brand’s Online Reputation with Trustmary

Managing your brand’s online reputation is crucial in the competitive market, and Trustmary offers the comprehensive tools you need to succeed.

With features like automated review requests, review schema, integrations, and social sharing, Trustmary helps you gather and respond to customer feedback efficiently.

By leveraging its robust reporting dashboards and review management tools, you can gain valuable insights into customer satisfaction and trends, enabling you to make informed decisions to enhance your brand.

Whether you’re a local business or a SaaS company, Trustmary provides affordable and effective solutions to boost your online presence, build trust with your audience, and drive sales.