Can you really trust companies offering ORM services?

The Heavy Chef Project

Practical Learning About Digital Marketing

Can you really trust companies offering ORM services? Posted in Online Reputation Management, Concocted by Jason Bagley,
Published on 26 July 2010

ORM seems to be heading in the same direction that SEO has. Every Tom, Dick and Harry web agency that has a Twitter account thinks they can handle ORM for clients. The big question is do they know what they doing and if so, what results do they have to back that claim up?

You obviously have a choice of whether to try your hand at ORM using Twitter Search, Google Alerts and the likes, but an agency that offers ORM will have the knowledge of how to go about using more complex tools and then assembling that data into something your company can actually use to make decisions about your online reputation.

Ask for a dip-stick analysis

When deciding on which company to use to manage your ORM, ask them to run a 1-3 month trial where they pick up all the noise online and present their findings to you. You can then run a few tools of your own to see if they missed anything. Along with comparing the data, you’ll also be able to get some expert analysis from the ORM company as they present their findings.

online reputation management

Community Management

The second step in finding out if you can trust the company offering ORM services is if they offer some form of community management or will be able to handle responding to the online noise. It’s all great to collect the data and assemble it but the key to ORM is actually engaging with customers online that mention your brand and turn any negative conversations into positive interactions.

Just as you would interview a prospective candidate when hiring new staff, you should do the same with your chosen digital marketing agency. After all, they going to be managing one of the most important facets of your company, your reputation!