According to a MarTechSeries article, nearly 40% of businesses will increase their investment in online reputation management (ORM) this year. 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.
224 digital marketers in the US were surveyed and more than half of businesses (54%) consider ORM “very necessary” to success. As a result, 34% said they allocated more resources to ORM in 2018, and an additional 43% 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. More than 40% of digital marketers (42%) monitor their companies’ brand online daily, while 21% monitor their online reputation hourly.
Public relations experts say that 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.
Social media also has shifted the ORM landscape because it gives consumers free-reign to share their opinions and experiences quickly and frequently: 46% 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.