Online reputation management increasingly important

Around 84% of consumers surveyed by Brand Reputation said that, compared with one year ago, they were more likely to search the Internet for reviews before making a purchase.

This isn't surprising considering the increased need for reliability and value thanks to the economic climate, along with consumers' tighter grips on their wallets. It is, however, a wake-up call to marketers who aren't monitoring their online reputations.

"The rapid rise in social media has led to substantial increase in consumer generated content and any consumer, or former employee, is now an opinion former. Unfortunately for brand owners, a large amount of this content contains misleading information which damages the perception of the brand held by others," explained Graeme Crossley, Chief Executive of Brand Reputation.

"Worse still, technology enables this misleading information to spread quickly and once in the public domain and it is a considerable challenge for brand owners to change these perceptions or to successfully communicate accurate information to balance the viewpoint."

The survey found that, in particular, consumers relied on online reviews when investigating the following items:

Consumer electronics 56%
Home Furnishings 33%
Apparel 21%
White Goods 45%
DIY & Garden 18%
Entertainment Products 12%
Sports Goods 9%
Food 2%

Crossley believes marketers must have strategies in place to manage potential damage caused by negative conversations and reviews about a brand. Instead of an "as and when" response to online reputation management, marketers need to closely monitor conversations and put in place pro-active strategies to listen and react across a variety of media including Twitter, social networks, forums, blogs and online review sites.

"A customer that has a good experience will typically tell 3 to 5 people, but a customer who has a poor experience will tell more than 20," said Crossley. "When this trend occurs via the web, these numbers can rapidly multiply and could spell disaster for brands that don't have strategies in place to combat online negative chatter."

Tags: brand reputation, online reputation, online reviews, online shopping, social media, word-of-mouth