Content Marketing
How to Manage Your Online Reputation with Content Marketing

How to Manage Your Online Reputation with Content Marketing

January 13, 2021
4 min read

The image of your brand matters in every channel and iteration.

Your online reputation is one of the most important channels because that’s where the world finds you.

While it’s impossible to control everything related to your brand online, you can manage your online reputation with content marketing.

With content marketing, you control the story. Your blogs, videos, social media posts, and every other aspect of content marketing are all within your realm to dictate.

It’s your point of view and opportunity to tell the industry and your audience exactly who you are. So, how do you do it? Let’s find out.

Quick Takeaways:

  • A brand’s online reputation is critical to success, and you need to own the narrative.
  • Ensure your voice is what speaks for you online with content marketing.
  • Using content marketing to manage your online reputation includes SEO, social media, and customer-focused content.

Why Your Brand’s Reputation Matters: A Look at the Data on Online Reputation Management

Online reputation management (ORM) is a combination of marketing, public relations, social media management, SEO, and other strategies to promote, monitor, protect, and defend your online image. For a quick intro, see the video below.

There are a lot of moving parts. ORM isn’t static. We live in a 24/7 world where the internet is never off. So, it can be intense, especially for global household brands, but startups and SMBs need to be vigilant as well. Here’s why.

Simply put, buyers care about your reputation. They pay attention to reviews and articles about your company that you didn’t create. So, how can you still control the narrative? Well, much of it revolves around search rankings.

Where Do Buyers Check Out a Brand’s Reputation?

If a buyer wants to know about you, where do they go? The first stop is Google, according to ReviewTrackers’ data. Google is, by far, the favorite tool, and one of the most important aspects of Google results is SEO.

SEO ties directly with content marketing. The more high-quality, optimized content you produce, the more often the search results will be your content—not someone else’s content about your brand.

In addition to the organic search results about your brand, customers will also be looking at your Google My Business (GMB) profile with reviews.

You may think that these reviews are only obtainable for consumer businesses. Not true—B2B businesses can certainly encourage customers to leave Google reviews.

However, keep in mind that your GMB profile isn’t under your direct control. What you can focus on is ensuring the information is accurate regarding your address, contact information, hours, etc.

To elicit reviews, leverage content marketing campaigns that encourage customers to leave reviews as well as participate in testimonial videos. Your customers talking about how much they trust and value your solutions is worth much more than what you can say.

Executives Realize SEO Impacts Brand Reputation

The priority of SEO in brand reputation management is becoming more acknowledged. A new study found that a majority of business executives agree that SEO does impact brand perception.

While companies realize the importance of SEO and online brand management, most are unhappy with their portrayal. A survey found that 51 percent of businesses feel this way.

Making SEO a priority for brand reputation management involves leveraging content marketing. SEO, of course, plays an essential role in many aspects. This is just one more area to consider for your content strategy.

Reputation Management Should Be Part of Your Content Strategy

Understanding SEO’s crucial role in your online reputation means it should be part of your content strategy. You should dedicate a subsection of your SEO strategy to brand management. Include things like:

  • How you’ll monitor for negative search results.
  • What you’ll do to minimize or eliminate these articles.
  • Plans for content on your content calendar that are brand specific to ensure positive results for your brand’s name and any products.

Managing Your Brand’s Reputation on Social Media

The other critical channel for brand reputation online is social media. Again, you don’t control these platforms, only your profiles. However, there are things to do to be aware of your brand’s reputation on social media.

You can use listening and monitoring tools that will alert you at the mention of your brand. Some of the best are Sprout SocialHootsuite, and Mention.

Depending on if it’s positive or negative, you’ll need to respond appropriately. In some cases with a negative review, you may be able to turn the situation around with the right response but take it offline if possible to resolve the issue.

Countering these negatives isn’t easy. Consider a “swarming” type of technique to increase your posting on the profile with positive customer experiences like video testimonials and case studies.

Even if those negative posts remain, and you can’t change the poster’s mind, you’ll have a plethora of content on your profile that you control and speaks to your ability to serve customer needs.

Turn a Customer Failure into a Lessons Learned Piece of Content

Most brands never really admit their mistakes. If they do, it’s in a way that often sidesteps accountability. What if you did something completely radical and took responsibility, then turned that failure into content?

It’s a pretty revolutionary thought, but in an era where customers want transparency and honesty, it could be a very successful initiative.

For example, you may have a customer frustrated that your software didn’t have a specific feature. The feature seemed intuitive enough that it would be part of the functionality, but it’s not. If that customer complained or wrote a bad review based on this, it’s time to address it.

Start collaborating with that customer on what the feature should do and develop a product map to get you there. Such a scenario could be a windfall for content, including blogs, case studies, and videos.

Managing Your Online Reputation: You’ll Need More Content

Whether it’s ensuring search results are brand-friendly, consistently posting customer-related stories on social media, or developing content from negative experiences, one thing is clear. You’ll need more content—consistent and compelling. If you’re unable to produce it on your own, we can help.

If you are ready to get more traffic to your site with quality content published consistently, check out our Content Builder Service.

Set up a quick consultation, and I’ll send you a free PDF version of my books. Get started today and generate more traffic and leads for your business.

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Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner is an international keynote speaker, author of "Mean People Suck" and "The Content Formula", and Founder of Marketing Insider Group. Recognized as a Top Content Marketing expert and Digital Marketing Leader, Michael leverages his experience from roles in sales and marketing for global brands like SAP and Nielsen, as well as his leadership in leading teams and driving growth for thriving startups. Today, Michael delivers empowering keynotes on marketing and leadership, and facilitates actionable workshops on content marketing strategy. Connect with Michael today.