Online Reputation Management (ORM) is all about managing, monitoring and maintaining your brand’s reputation across the web. There are a few jargons one ought to know when it comes to ORM:
- Paid Media; As the name suggests paid media is marketing you buy. Paid media is a mix of TV ads, print advertising, sponsorships, and other different types of media. In digital marketing, paid media includes pay-per-click (PPC) ads, paid social media ads, and search engine marketing (SEM). Different from inbound marketing, paid media makes it easier for you to instantly reach your target audience and engage them where they are currently present. Paid media is when a small business pays for placement on a platform such as a website, a search engine, social media, video ads, website pop-ups, newsletters, etc.
- Earned Media; Earned media is exposure from methods that are not paid, such as articles in magazines, customer reviews online, etc. Earned media are often seen in brand mentions and media awareness awarded via promotion, rather than paid advertising. This can also be considered as “organic” media. Often, brands acquire earned media through event sponsorships, PR and digital marketing.
- Shared Media; Shared media refers to content that’s shared across third-party platforms, like social media, or shared between multiple owners, including people liking, commenting on social media posts – it is the result of a shared interaction. Social media is the main channel for shared media in today’s day and age. These involve partnerships, like sharing content on partner networks like newsletters or websites, influencer engagement, sharing your content on their social channels, and sponsorships, wherever the content is shared under a prior sponsored agreement and terms or conditions.
- Owned Media; Owned media is any web property that you can control or manage and is distinctive to your brand. One of the most ordinary examples of owned media is a website, although blog sites podcasts, webinars, and social media channels are multiple other examples of owned media properties too. Channels like social media and blogs/podcasts are mere extensions of your website, and all three are extensions of your brand entity as a whole. The more owned media options you have, the more possibilities you have to extend your brand presence in the digital sphere. When it comes to owned media, you ought to remain regular with your content for a productive outcome.
Online reputation management has a definite and direct impact on your media buying decisions and attracting more customers. Approximately 81% of buyers do some kind of online research/analysis before making a buying decision and also form an opinion about your brand. This process is like EWOM – An online version of word-of-mouth, which further grows through user engagement. ORM is extremely vital when it comes to receiving feedback or any complaint that needs urgent attention. 70% of customers are bound to return if a complaint is handled reasonably and when they feel heard by the company or brand. It’s a chance to get valuable insight for your way forward as well.
