We now live in a technology-driven world where social media is King (almost). Consequently, everyone is now a personal brand and reputations spread worldwide with the click of a mouse. It is, therefore, important to have a clear understanding of reputation management, what it is and how it will affect your life and career in the long run. Below, we take a closer look at reputation management and how you can benefit from the same.

What is Reputation Management?

Also known as Online Reputation Management (ORM) or Rep Management, Reputation Management is the skill or using resources and tools to monitor the reputation or public perception of a brand or personality wherever the same may appear.

Getting Started by Assessing What Is

Unsurprisingly, Reputation Management starts with social media monitoring. Here, the reputation manager will assess social media analytics, as well as closely monitor or review any inferences or references that appear regarding the person, business, or brand. through this intensive and thorough monitoring, one can get a clear snapshot of people’s responses (including personal opinions) to the brand or business. This assessment will allow you to design a campaign to effectively address any gaps that were found during the monitoring process. That is, you will be able to remedy any opinions or references that seem contrary to what you are trying to promote.

Reframing Reputation Using Public Relations (PR) Campaigns

As stated prior, your assessment will inform your Public Relations campaign. The aim of this public relations campaign is to increase the visibility of positive public reviews as opposed to negative ones. On the world wide web, a great way to do this is through positive content marketing.

Positive content marketing includes creating posts on social media platforms, blogs, and other web spaces, that frame the brand, individual, or business in a positive light. By posting enough positive pieces, the reputation manager is able to cultivate a reputation that speaks well of the brand, business, or individual. Still, as effective as this tool can be, it is not a standalone option. The most effective way to manage reputation is by ensuring that behaviors are in keeping with the desired perceptions.

Consumers Have the Real Power

The truth is, the Internet – and in particular social networking and social sharing sites – are set up in such a way that conversations surrounding real-life experiences on any topic, business, brand, or individual is a fair gain. As such, even the best reputation manager will be able to control every single perception about your brand by merely posting relevant amounts of positive content. However, if the behavior is in keeping with the positive spin desired for the business, brand, or individual in question, then the discussions which are ‘out of your control’ can be guided accordingly.

Regulating Behavior: Your Next Step in Reputation Management

One of the most efficient ways of managing reputation through behavior modification is to take a ‘less is more’ approach to social sharing. In other words, it is important that the reputation manager regulates the kinds of images, text, videos, comments, and posts that the brand, individual, or business is posting to social networking and social sharing sites. Additionally, it is important that the brand, business, or individual involved ensures that they keep quality assurance in mind when conducting themselves offline as well. They should endeavor to provide their customers or anyone they interact with within an official capacity with the utmost respect and the highest level of service possible. Of course, it goes without saying that the product or service being exchanged for revenue should be of the highest quality as well.

Reminders:

Whether you are a business or an individual, reputation is all you have, and a good reputation is worth its weight in gold. It should also be borne in mind that a good reputation is hard to build and even harder to keep, but even the seemingly smallest infraction can be costly on several levels. As such, individuals, businesses, brands, and reputation managers alike should be diligent in their efforts to build, promote, and maintain a positive reputation so as to always be in favorable standing with the public.