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Online reputation management
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Online Reputation Management, or ORM, is the practice of consistent research and analysis of one’s personal or professional, business or industry reputation as represented by the content across all types of online media. It is also sometimes referred to as Online Reputation Monitoring, maintaining the same acronym.
What is ORM?
ORM is a relatively new industry but has been brought to the forefront of professionals’ consciousness due to the overwhelming and many times unpredictable nature of both professional journalistic and user-generated content. The type of online content monitored spans professional journalism sponsored by traditional news & media giants as well as user-generated blogs, ratings and comments.
ORM partly formed from a need to manage consumer generated media (CGM)[1]
As CGM grew with the rise of social media and other similar user-based online content aggregators, it began to effect search results more and more, bringing with it increased attention to the matter of managing these results. [2]
The UK market for ORM will grow by around 30% in 2008, to an estimated value of £60 million. [3]
What types of online media are monitored with ORM?
Specifically, the online media that is monitored in ORM is:
How can ORM positively or negatively affect a person or business?
- Improve customer satisfaction by gaining insights from consumers about what is good and bad about their product or services.
- Increase perceptions of brand by creating opportunities to listen to and engage consumers.
- Gain insights about competitors and their customers’ perceptions about their products and services.
- Maintain shareholder value by mitigating risk by having ears close to the ground where opinions about a business are being formed and propagated.
- Engage in more effective public relations by understanding who the real influencers are.
- Gain understanding of the relationship between user-- generated content and traditional forms of online media, e.g. news, print, etc.
- Provide early warning systems for reactive and defensive PR.
- Reduce marketing spend by learning how to reach out to customers more cheaply.
- Reduce internal costs by employing services which save time and effort.
- Help identify gaps for products and services which can be developed for profitable niche markets.
- Gain insight into online networks and key phrases found in user- generated content can aid attempts to bolster natural search.
Notes
References
- Alsop, R. (2004). Immutable Laws of Corporate Reputation: Creating,
Protecting, and Repairing Your Most Valuable Asset. Wall Street Journal Books.
- Fernando, A. (2004). Big Blogger is Watching You! Reputation Management in an
Opinionated, Hyperlinked World. Communication World.
- Schmitt, B. (2000). Branding Puts a High Value on Reputation Management. Financial Times.
- Thompson, N. (2003). More Companies Pay Heed to Their ‘Word of Mouse’ Reputation. New York Times.
External Links
See also
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