Online Reputation Management For eLearning And HR Software Brands

What Is Online Reputation Management?

Online reputation management alleviates bad sentiment while promoting positive reviews, influencing how people view your company online. Basically, the goal is to neutralize bad comments and reviews to generate new leads. Usually, companies monitor their social media comments and mentions, online review sites, and SEO rankings to ensure people view them positively. So, next time someone leaves a bad comment under your LinkedIn post, don’t avoid answering, thinking it will go away. It might generate more buzz and likes than you imagine. You need to enforce an online reputation strategy and answer everyone interacting with your brand in a negative or positive way. Let it be noted that ORM isn’t exactly like public relations. You are using it not to build a good brand image but to defend your business against bad press.

But how do you even monitor the entire internet to identify potentially harmful comments and reviews? It takes time and effort, but it’s worth the price. Meanwhile, you need to continuously create good publicity around your name. That’s why earning your spot in an eLearning top list is pivotal in establishing thought leadership and trust.

Why Does It Matter For Your eLearning And HR Business?

Internet reputation is undoubtedly one of the most important things for digital marketing and sales. Customers tend to show distrust of businesses with negative or neutral reviews. With 59% of consumers researching a business online before making a purchase, product reviews have never been more crucial. So, the best online reputation management practices help you deal with online complaints and maintain your clientele. It’s a proactive step that addresses the root causes of a potentially serious reputation risk. For instance, let’s say someone uses your Learning Management System (LMS) and leaves a negative review regarding its accessibility features. Answering this review quickly helps you mitigate the risk of other users reading this comment and forming a bad impression of you.

Additionally, online reputation management is ideal for SaaS growth strategies, as the more positive online sentiment is for your business, the more easily you can expand. It’s not only customers that get attracted by good publicity but also investors looking to partner up with startups. Not to mention, the feedback you get often uncovers issues that need fixing ASAP. Internet reputation management isn’t about being overly defensive but about recognizing potential risks and preventing them from causing real trouble. A great way to improve online reputation is by winning business awards in the eLearning and HR fields. eLearning Industry is a great place to submit your business in various categories.

Why Is ORM Important For SEO And Vice Versa?

You probably enforce SEO strategies to rank highly in online search engines and maximize visibility through the use of relevant keywords. While SEO and ORM are different, they work hand in hand to improve your reputation and push your brand higher. Management reputation makes sure all reviews and social media interactions regarding your company are positive, with the good overpowering the bad. Then, Search Engine Optimization steps in to elevate your presence and make more people read those reviews. In a way, the more you control the public’s perception of you, the more influential SEO is, so it’s important to hire a talented and seasoned Search Engine Optimization specialist who knows what keywords to implement to drive traffic to your website. Lastly, maintaining a good online reputation allows you to mitigate risks easily. Your brand shows resilience, as you don’t let any situation get out of your control.

Join our email list if you wish to receive even more insightful articles and resources like this.

4 Factors Contributing To Online Reputation Management

1. Social Media And Influencers

It seems like every B2B company is active on social media, trying to build a community and engage with collaborators and customers. In fact, most consumers visit a company’s social media channels during the awareness and consideration stages of the buyer journey. There, many people leave comments and reviews the moment they have formed their opinion about a product or service. This means that social listening and online reputation strategies are necessary to control the narrative around your business. You should answer people’s comments and messages quickly to show that you are interested and active and not let negative opinions outweigh others. The brightest B2B customer service examples prove how necessary engagement with clients is to solve misunderstandings and improve loyalty.

Thought leadership marketing is also pivotal for your online reputation management plan. So, leverage the power of eLearning bloggers and influencers to increase your reach and build trust. Credible and relevant influential figures can create content based on your services and encourage people to make a purchase. You may combine this tactic with affiliate marketing. Instead of paying influencers a fixed rate for their posts, you can give them a percentage for every successful purchase.

2. Review Sites

SaaS lead generation and conversion are heavily influenced by reviews and customer testimonials. What do you do when you want to check the credibility of a business? You probably Google its name or visit well-known review sites like Glassdoor. Of course, the more positive reviews you have, the more people trust your brand. But how do you get genuine reviews? Every time a customer purchases a product, wait for some time and send them an email asking them to leave a review. Even if they weren’t 100% happy with your solution, they will either tell you what they didn’t like or leave a mediocre review your online reputation specialist can deal with. Many companies also encourage users to create social media posts and tag them. You may offer incentives for that kind of review, including a discount, free demo, or merch.

This is where PPC directory listings appear to make your online reputation even better. How is that? Relevant eLearning and HR directories, like the ones in eLearning Industry, help you maximize visibility. An upgraded listing also allows you to appear at the top of the page and integrate online reviews.

3. Online Publications

Online reputation management depends on paid media like news site publications, Google ads, social media ads, sponsored posts, banner ads, and press releases. The best course of action is to identify the most relevant publications in the eLearning and HR fields and post an article there. Most content syndication platforms are not free to post, though, and you need to pay for your post to be published. However, this shouldn’t deter you. Think of it this way. You’re not only paying to publish an article but also to promote it on social media and get it SEO-optimized. Banner ads and press releases are additional tools you may use to promote a new product coming out or celebrate an award you won. It’s important that people can read about your business on other sources other than your website.

4. Website Design

Remember how we talked about ORM and SEO? One of Google’s ranking factors is user experience, which is heavily impacted by web design and usability. When you spend hours upon hours improving your online business reputation, you want people to see all the wonderful things written about you. If your web design is poor, though, and pages take forever to load, people will quickly exit your domain. Additionally, Google will bury your website even deeper, making it almost impossible to discover. This is when some businesses decide to buy B2B leads in a desperate attempt to increase traffic and conversions. However, when you offer a seamless website experience with high-quality content, users stay longer, increasing their purchasing chances.

6 Effective Strategies To Monitor And Improve Your Online Reputation

1. Monitor Your Online Presence

Before you create a new social media strategy, you should monitor the online perception of your brand. Open an incognito window on your browser and Google your company. First, check your Google Business profile to see how reviews and other information appear. Next, analyze your social media profiles, including comments, mentions, and shares. At last, read third-party material that you have no control over. For example, there might be a Reddit thread about your services or a forum where someone asks something relevant. Review sites like Glassdoor and Trustpilot are also important to track. All this information will give you a good idea of where you’re at and what you need to work on.

2. Ask For Reviews

Reviews are absolutely necessary for online reputation management. You should always encourage your customers to leave reviews once they’ve bought and used your solution. This way, you attract high-quality business leads who might choose you based on the positive sentiment around your business. To receive more reviews, you can organize email campaigns, offering incentives to those who satisfy your request. Offer people directions on how to submit their reviews and answer each and every one of them, whether they are positive or negative. It shows potential clients that you pay attention to each customer’s opinion.

3. Create Positive Content

Online reputation management requires a proactive approach to creating positive viewpoints. While positive content does not erase bad reviews, it creates a fresher brand image. For example, you may have a couple of bad reviews on Google. It’s completely different to have these reviews appear toward the bottom of your page rather than the top. The same goes for third-party stories. Earned media placements, including articles in trusted publications, Q&A pieces, and recent case studies, push bad press down the search engines. Therefore, people view all these informative posts and may never read the criticism against your brand.

4. Take Care Of Negative Reviews

Effective business reputation management requires you to take quick action whenever someone submits a negative review on Google or any other site. Most consumers say they might be deterred by a single negative review. While you can’t magically make them disappear, you can answer thoughtfully and swiftly. Instead of getting defensive, you should engage in a meaningful way that neutralizes the negative comment. If you’ve made a mistake, own up to it but don’t always apologize. This is risky when you’ve made a mistake that can end up in legal trouble. So, say, “How can we make this better?” Additionally, you can offer free stuff or discounts to sweeten the pot. If these negative reviews persist, they might be an indication that you need to make improvements.

5. Use Branded Keywords

Most marketers perform an SEO competitor analysis to identify competitive keywords they want to rank for. This strategy is definitely necessary to help your website rank higher. It’s not the only thing you can do, though. If you want to go even further and evolve your Google online reputation management plan, you may create content based on branded keywords. So, instead of writing an article with “payroll software solutions” as the main keyword, you can change it to “[our company’s] payroll software benefits.” Don’t forget to apply some of the core on-page SEO factors, including adding your keyword into your title tag, meta description, H1 tag, and first paragraph. Ensure that your content provides expert insights and builds thought leadership. Relevant backlinks are also pivotal in improving your ranking.

6. Have A Crisis Management Plan

It’s impossible to deter all crises. But even when bad publicity and negative comments appear, you should have an internal plan for reputation management tactics. For example, who monitors online mentions, comments, and reviews, and who is responsible for releasing public statements? Your customer lifetime value depends on social monitoring to handle such unpleasantries. To deter crises, you should stay updated regarding industry trends and new legislation and understand how to better communicate with your audience. Instead of copying and pasting generic drafts, personalize each message and response to show how much you care.

5 Triumphant Examples Of Online Reputation Management

1. Nike

Nike possesses a few of the most successful content marketing strategy examples. However, this doesn’t mean that it stops protecting its reputation online. Since most of the company’s bad comments and complaints appear on social media, it has created a separate X account named NikeSupport. Its dedicated personnel track mentions, tags, and comments and react quickly before things get out of hand. So, when someone complains about a design or delayed delivery, Nike handles their query swiftly to deter any further negative attention.

2. Coca-Cola

It’s no secret that Coca-Cola creates some of the most creative and relatable ads, maximizing visibility and increasing revenue. Online reputation management helps them track their audience and how they talk about the brand online. Their social media marketing focuses heavily on social listening. Similarly to Nike, the company’s employees answer comments and track mentions. But that’s not all. Do you remember how we mentioned a bit earlier how important tracking trends is? Coca-Cola often utilizes famous social media trends to appear friendlier to its audience. Such reputation management tactics humanize brands and make them more appealing to audiences. People know that it’s a human handling an account, not a robot.

3. Patagonia

Patagonia is a company known for its environmental sensitivity. In fact, the company donates 1% of all sales to various environmental causes, proving that it doesn’t make empty promises. This approach creates trust among customers who share the same values. Additionally, the company’s online reputation management is successful thanks to its Ironclad Guarantee. Consumers can return their products for replacements, refunds, or repairs within a respectable period. Basically, Patagonia tries to be an anchor of hope in an era when our world needs it the most.

4. ASOS

ASOS is a retail company that sends its products all over the globe. You can imagine that problems with deliveries arise quite often. Packages get lost, and deliveries are delayed due to customs. The company’s online reputation strategy is clear. Its representatives reply to customers immediately. They even call them to provide them with possibilities and next steps. Basically, they want to reassure clients that while mistakes do happen, they are more than capable of finding a quick and easy solution.

5. JetBlue

Experts often discuss how empathy is in the future of digital marketing. JetBlue has realized it and implemented it into their online relationship management. Being an airline corporation, they often face flight delays and other issues. We all know how frustrating it is for people to wait for hours until they can board a plane. So, JetBlue prioritizes customer service, answering people’s queries as quickly as possible. Through active listening, they offer solutions and apologize for inconveniences they can’t solve on their own.

Features To Look For When Searching For Your ORM Service

To create an organized customer acquisition strategy, you need different departments to collaborate seamlessly. The same goes for online reputation management. That’s why your chosen tool must allow internal and external users to perform tasks without any hurdles. It should also be easy to add new users and grant them access wherever needed.

A multichannel approach is one of the top marketing industry trends, allowing you to reach your audience on various platforms. Effective reputation management tools must easily integrate as many platforms and profiles as possible so you can track every online interaction. You should look for a tool that gathers all necessary and relevant information and provides you with timely insights. For example, informing you about a bad review one week later isn’t a good sign, as hundreds of people might have already read it.

AI is being implemented in so many different aspects of online marketing and web reputation management. Automation features help you get instant notifications regarding comments, mentions, and reviews that need your attention. Whether these interactions are positive or negative, you must address them swiftly, and AI can help you achieve this easily. Another AI use case for B2B marketing is sentiment analysis. The automated algorithm provides a holistic view surrounding your brand and allows you to automate your responses. However, it’s best to reply to each one individually, avoiding the risk of giving identical answers to all queries.

You may find the best online reputation management platform that combines everything. However, if it performs poorly in creating comprehensive reports, maybe it’s time to move on. Why? You need your chosen tool to gather all online data and give you an overall image of the online sentiment about your brand. Additionally, you want it to track conversations and their origins. Over time, it helps you form a complete image of how your online presence improves or worsens.

As your growth hacking strategies work and you evolve, your workload and needs increase, too. This means that your reputation management software must be easily scalable and allow you to integrate other tools without too much trouble. You want a tool that can expand as much as you can without taking anything away from its usability and core features. For example, you may begin only with Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts and then add X, Instagram, Quora, Reddit, and various forums.

Key Takeaway

If you think that the best online marketing strategies can save your brand and push you to new heights, think again. It’s sadly not enough. You need to learn how to fix your online reputation before one negative comment and review turns into an avalanche. Social media monitoring, influencers, SEO, paid media, and user-friendly web design improve people’s overall sentiment about your company. The more you answer online comments and reviews and offer solutions to people’s problems, the more positive their impression of you will be. At the same time, you should be proactive and request reviews from happy clients while having a crisis management plan in place.

When you’re searching for your preferred tool, make sure it is scalable, features automation, and provides you with detailed analytics. The more data your team members view, the more efficiently they can work to fix your online reputation.

There is one last thing we kept for last. Have you ever won an industry award? eLI’s Top List Awards allow you to showcase your unique aspects and stand out from the crowd in the eLearning and HR landscapes.