It’s time for a health check! This is the first post in a series on how to evaluate and optimize your organization’s online reputation. Over twenty years ago, organizations knew that prospects and customers went online seeking information about them. But what those prospects and customers found often went way beyond a carefully planned website experience. Back then, just like now, a brand’s owned, paid and earned media was all available to prospects and customers alike. It is just one click away for casual browsing or deep scrutiny on the Internet.
Why is online reputation important?
The Internet was gaining traction in the early two thousands. It was a time when our awareness of “online reputation” was on the rise. As we know, this area of communications and marketing has only gotten more important with the increase in internet use. According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of US adults who say they do not use the internet has declined from 48% in 2000 to just 7% in 2021. Now, on top of your organization’s owned, paid, and earned media, the Internet includes social media mentions, reviews, and more user-generated content about your organization. Now that we’ve established why online reputation is important, I have a question for you. Is your organization focused on this right now? If not, it is time for a health check. Let’s begin by defining reputation management.
Don’t confuse this with crisis management
Back in 2007, the Harvard Business Review published this piece called Reputation and Its Risks. The summary, available to readers without a subscription (!), explains the difference between crisis management and reputation management. Crisis management, the summary explains, is when companies reactively focus on their vulnerability to negative sentiment from existing threats. Reputation management is where they intentionally build positive sentiment that leads to higher market value, increased interest from higher quality talent, and increased investment and brand loyalty from their customers. Powerful results, right? So let’s fast forward to today and put this area of communications and marketing into the context of the customer journey. Then we can see how investing in this strategy can bring organizational growth.
Online reputation and the customer journey
Previously, I’ve written a series on the customer journey and I use it as a key framework when I teach marketing. In my Marketing Analytics class this spring, I quoted our textbook’s stats on B2B and B2C buying behavior. Zahay et al. (2024) tell us that over 75% of all customer journeys begin with search. Yup! So how healthy is your search engine results page (SERP)? This is the starting place for this work. So have a peek at what pops up when you enter your organization’s name into your favorite search engine. You might be surprised at what you see!
I’ve been meeting with my network to discuss their SERPs and how to optimize them so that they can increase positive sentiment throughout their customer journeys and facilitate growth. If you’re interested in a conversation about your online reputation and how it can help you grow your organization, please reach out! In my next post, I’ll share some strategies you can use to evaluate and optimize your organization’s work in this area of communications and marketing.