The Internet is where a company’s reputation rises or falls. It’s essentially the collective unconscious of the larger culture. Every company needs to manage and work carefully with its online image. However, doing so effectively requires a proper understanding of three major strategic points.

1. Focus on the Technological Ecosystem

It’s easy for a company to become overly fixated on one part of the larger online experience. For example, social media is an important tool that every company should be working with. However, there are many different social media platforms. And social media is itself only one area within the larger Internet. Review platforms and online marketplaces are equally large and important. Companies also need to consider industry-specific online platforms.

In short, monitoring a company’s image needs to begin by identifying specific areas of importance. Decide what the significant areas to monitor will be and then move on to the implementation. This step also guides how the company will enact that plan. Platform-specific software can be used if a company determines that they don’t need to cover much of the digital ecosystem. However, in many cases, companies will want to use a larger monitoring suite that can track multiple data points on a variety of different platforms.

2. Monitor Active Engagement

Companies often fall into one particular trap when they start monitoring their online image. Companies tend to focus on singular instances where their names come up online rather than the larger context. It’s essentially missing the forest for the trees. Singular data points do indeed matter. A single type of comment from a hundred different people, for example, is quite significant. However, it’s generally more important to look for engagement within the context of online content.

A person saying something is significant. But people not just stating something, but being active about it, matters even more. In the context of social media, this often means active discussions. For example, people might be talking about a sale or event that your company is preparing to roll out. These can be incredibly significant in terms of your online image. People often state things, especially emotional moments, that don’t necessarily reflect their normal behavior. But people’s off-the-cuff discussions typically show what they think about a company or its services. It’s essentially like getting to listen in on a watercooler discussion. Many of the same programs used to monitor various online platforms provide specialized options to monitor and drive engagement as well.

3. Leverage Convergent Technologies

You’ve already seen that a company needs to juggle multiple platforms and forms of discussion. This can snowball rather quickly which is why convergent technologies are so important. Online image monitoring is typically done through a larger software suite rather than a program with a single specialized function. It’s not just that a software suite can monitor multiple online platforms either.

Larger suites also act as a point of technological convergence. For example, a suite might combine machine learning with social network monitoring to provide more in-depth sentiment analysis or predictive functionality. The more powerful suites essentially let you work with the software as a partner of sorts rather than simply using it for alerts.

Published by: Khy Talara