In the digital age, even when brand crises happen “in real life,” reputations are made and destroyed online. As a result, nearly 40 percent of businesses will increase their investment in online reputation management (ORM) this year, according to new research from B2B research, ratings, and reviews firm Clutch.
Businesses’ plans to allot more time and money to ORM are a result of the popularity of social media and third-party reviews sites, which impact businesses’ control over their online reputation.
Clutch surveyed 224 digital marketers in the U.S and found that more than half of businesses (54 percent) consider ORM “very necessary” to success. As a result, 34 percent said they allocated more resources to ORM in 2018, and an additional 43 percent said they plan to hire a professional public relations or ORM agency in 2018.
Businesses already invest a significant amount of time observing their online reputation, Clutch found. More than 40 percent of digital marketers (42 percent) monitor their companies’ brand online daily, while 21 percent monitor their online reputation hourly.
According to public relations experts, businesses frequently monitor how their brand is portrayed online because they know even one negative media mention can quickly damage the public’s perception of their company.
“When people search for brands online, they tend to search for stamps of credibility,” said Simon Wadsworth, managing partner at UK-based online reputation management agency Igniyte, in a news release. “If potential customers find anything negative, that could end up being a significant amount of leads the business won’t get from people who are put off from using the service.”
Social media also has shifted the ORM landscape because it gives consumers free-reign to share their opinions and experiences quickly and frequently—46 percent of businesses look to social media most often to monitor their online reputation.
By using professional agencies that have expertise in online reputation management, businesses can minimize losing new customers who may be dissuaded from purchasing their product or service.
