It is said search engine optimization, online reputation management and social media are the trinity of internet marketing. Let us discuss a little about SEO, Social Media and ORM first.
Why Search Engine Optimization?
SEO is generally concerned about getting a website rank in search engines or to rank better for products and/or services related search terms. It is nothing but a process of increasing the chances of your website to be listed in the first page or first in the search results of popular search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, Bing and so forth.
Social media marketing is a bunch of techniques and strategies for promoting awareness of a brand, publication, product, etc. (the brand, publication or product can be personal or for business), on social media, particularly by encouraging the sharing of content that help attracts the end number of people to a specific website.
Online reputation management is about improving your personal or business name or good standing of your brand. This is by countering or eliminating the negative feedback found in the internet - defeating them with more positive feedback, comments or reviews to improve your credibility and customers' trust on your name or brand.
Digital media and marketing, for instance, search engine optimization, social media marketing and online reputation management have proven its value to businesses of all sizes and types by offering the following powerful features.
When it comes to increasing search ranking, promoting business and building positive awareness, they take lot of time and effort to build as well as maintain company's online reputation. SEO, Social Media and ORM can give that. The benefits are:
To understand the basic differences of SEO, Social Media and ORM, we need to understand the buyers' journey. The buyers' journey consists of three important stages:
Crisis communication is an essential part of any corporate or institutional communication plan. Today social media plays an increasingly important part of it. Property owners and managers must be cognizant of this fact, and embrace its utility as a tool in the organization's overall enterprise risk management program.
The speed and ease of use take the value of social media beyond being a headline banner. This methodology requests assistance, identifies access, ties to mapping resources, provides safety check-ins, and provides a vehicle for relief and fundraising. For business organizations and institutions it is an important component of business resilience communication. It moves these groups beyond call trees, 800 numbers, and chat boards. Directing and maintaining social media for these organizations has now become an identifiable responsibility in the overall disaster or business resilience program.
The value of this process as a disaster tool is evidenced in recent research compiled by Best Communication Company, LTD, in Japan. This research was performed before and after the March 11, 2011 earthquake. The study reports that after the earthquake the use of traditional communication - i.e. telephones and e-mail - increased, but not at the rate of social media. This research identifies and uptick of 66-70% following the earthquake. This usage includes both public media as well as internal corporate or organizational social tools. Data collected confirms that 70% of those surveyed used Twitter, 37% used Facebook, and 16% utilized YouTube.
In our consulting practice we have long advised clients of the importance of having a single spokesperson to address the news media to assure a single cohesive message to be delivered to the public, clients, customers, suppliers and employees. Today we add managing social media to the responsibilities of that spokesperson.
Utilizing social media effectively requires companies to develop strategies that are put into play all along the disaster continuum: pre-disaster, during the event, and post-disaster, communicating both externally and internally.
Corporately, marketing or brand managers must also be alert to external reports about their businesses. As we have seen in major disasters for decades, competitors will use misinformation to damage or redirect the market share of companies in disaster zones. Now more than ever, scouring the Internet for damaging or misleading information is an essential part of any company's resilience plan. Prompt, thoughtful response to untruthful posts about your business by others is required to maintain business stability.
Social media should be incorporated into an organization's overall business continuity strategy. As such it should be exercised like any part of the BCP. During gaming or exercising events, the crisis communication coordinator should be posed with questions as to how the entity would utilize social media to their benefit. It will also clue stakeholders as to the type of information that may be forthcoming from the assigned communicator. This is an important consideration and organizational responsibility. It is not a task to be assigned as a low priority.
You have only to look at certain social media miscues to see how mistakes have had significant negative impacts on various corporations' market share, stock prices, and brand image. In a disaster these may be obfuscated by risk of injury and death.
Research conducted by the University of Western Sydney after the Queensland floods concluded: "social media can act as amplifiers of affected information and also help people to not feel alone." The report presents the case that social media is highly important in managing rumors and sensationalized media reporting. "Overwhelmingly people reported feeling a sense of connectedness and usefulness, felt supported by others and felt encouraged." Property owners and managers need to harness and manage the power of social media.