7 Things Business Owners Must Know About Online Presence Management

online presence management orm reputation manager digital branding seo

In the world of business marketing, competition is steep. In fact, the average American sees up to 5,000 ads a day!

The only way to truly leave your mark comes down to two words - "brand consistency".

In today's online, technologically-advanced market, brand consistency is determined by your online presence management. It's no longer about "if" consumers see you, it's "how much".

The reason big-name brands like Amazon, General Motors, and Verizon are prevailing household names is that they make sure of it. All three of those companies are within the top 10 high-paying advertisers each year. 

Need more convincing? Keep reading for 7 things every business owner needs to know about online presence management!


Why is Online Presence Management Important?

The companies who know what they're doing have the art of brand consistency down pat. These companies are so well-known for their products, we think the company name is the product!

A great example is the Band-Aid company. When you have a cut, you don't think "I need an adhesive bandage," you think "I need a Band-Aid". Thus, their job is done.

Band-Aid sells adhesive bandages, as does Curity, as does Covidien, as does Nexcare. The difference is, Band-Aid is probably the only brand you recognize from that group. 


1. Brand Recognition 

As you can see, online presence management is incredibly important for brand recognition. 

Brand recognition is vital for further reasons, too.

First, the more people see your name out there, the more likely they are to think of your business when they need a product or services that you offer. It's like a planting a seed in their head for future harvesting.

Second, people associate familiarity with reliability. Whether it's an accurate assessment or not is irrelevant.

The point is if they've heard of you, they feel like they can trust you. The only contradiction would be if they know of you based on poor reviews or negative PR. Online reputation managing (ORM) goes hand in hand with online presence management.


2. Easy Access and Availability for Your Customers

Another major key to running a successful business is providing easy availability to your customers. Developing a solid online presence grants access to your clients while you're off the clock. 
Look at it this way:

Most online shoppers begin shopping at 8 pm, a time when most local stores would be closing up shop. Let's face it, no matter how much we love our business, we don't want to work too late.

However, if you have an online shop, you remain available to these late-night shoppers! 

Coincidentally, the best way to let people know about your online shop is online presence management!


3. Easy Marketing for Your Business

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of an online presence is the variety of marketing options available to business owners.

For example, using a social media platform, such as Facebook, allows you to market in ways previously unknown to business owners. You can choose whatever media you want, such as pictures, videos, text-overlay, etc.

Secondly, marketing this way allows you to track the performance of each ad, showing you what works and what doesn't. Using this information, you can put all of your efforts (and money) into the ads you know are working.

Finally, online presence management with a focus on social media helps you stay in the loop and on everyone's minds, assuming you stay active on your business page!


4. SEO Strength

One of the things many business owners don't understand is the effect online presence management has on SEO. SEO stands for search engine optimization. In non-techy speak, it refers to how your website ranks when people Google you.

SEO strength is huge in business nowadays, especially for online companies. Studies show that the top result on search engines get 42% more business while the third gets only 8%. That's a big difference, friends.

Imagine being 10th in line.

The more presence you have online, plus knowing how to capitalize on SEO with keywords, content, tags, meta descriptions, etc., the higher your business page will rank.


5. Stick With the Trends

Part of having a successful business within today's society means being fluid and learning how to stick with the trends. Sticking with the trends results in having a strong online presence and you'd better believe your competition does. 

Consumers are all about Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. If you're not on these trending apps, you better get on it. 

Online presence management means staying current on trends and being ahead of the curve when it comes to market changes and new developments in consumerism.

It's simply too hard to survive unless you're connected.


6. Build Strong Relationships with Customers

What's the best way to keep customers coming back time and time again?

Make friends with them.

The best means of building a good relationship with customers is getting to know them online. 

Without online presence management, you wouldn't have that opportunity.

Offering deals, subscriptions, promos, and more to win people over is a great way to build a customer base before ever seeing a single face.

Letting email and social media subscribers get to know you over a long period of time will help you grow your brand recognition and client base. Let them know what you have to offer without applying too much pressure to win their hearts. For bonus points, offer a free service or product every once in a while!


7. Greater Reach

Finally, quality online presence management gives you an amazing benefit over localized TV, radio, or newspaper advertising - reach. 

Online marketing allows you to reach exponentially more consumers than traditional methods of marketing. 

Additionally, online marketing can make it easy to utilize targeted marketing systems, making sure your advertisements are going to the people who are most likely to bite on them. In other words, giving you the biggest bang for your buck.


What Are You Waiting For?

If you don't have a solid online presence and reputation, get on it!

Every minute you aren't giving time or resources toward online presence management, you're losing money! 

If you don't understand it, that's okay! Most people don't! 

Be smart, hire someone who can help you get started or run your online presence and reputation full-time. You and your business will benefit from it! Read more helpful information on our blog today.

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