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Amol Ghemud Published: February 26, 2021
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In 2025, having an online presence is not just an option—it’s necessary for any business. It’s how you get discovered in a crowded marketplace, sell products and services, engage with your audience, and build trust. Your online presence is the primary channel for sharing information, gathering feedback, and responding to questions, comments, and complaints. As consumers increasingly rely on digital touchpoints to evaluate brands, managing your online reputation has become a cornerstone of successful digital marketing strategies.
An online presence opens up a world of opportunity for you. But it also carries the weight of maintaining (and building) a stellar reputation for your business. A good online reputation helps build trust and can further your business interest and boost sales. And the right digital marketing strategies can help you get there.
What Is An Online Reputation?
People will have a certain view/opinion of your business when they interact with it or come across your brand, even at first glance. Your online reputation determines how people perceive and view your business when they search for it online. ORM, online reputation management, or reputation management helps influence and shape the information people find about you online – determining what they think of you.
What you need to understand is that ORM is not limited to the information search engines throw up – it is connected to pretty much everything you do online, from your social media to how you respond to negative reviews.
It involves listening to conversations, sparking conversations with your audience, responding to comments, and using tools and setting up alerts to stay on top of any mentions of your company, brand, slogan, product/service or spokesperson online. It is about interacting with your online audience to influence their opinions about your brand. (Please note that reputation monitoring is about listening to what’s being said about your brand; while reputation management is more participatory in nature.)
Considering how much importance people place on online reviews and customer feedback when they make a purchase, the importance of your online professional reputation cannot be ignored. You need to invest in it – and work at it – to keep your business running smoothly.
The Impact Of Online Reputation On Digital Marketing in 2025
In 2025, the influence of online reputation on digital marketing is more critical than ever. Thanks to reviews, star ratings, social media, and video content, potential customers can quickly form opinions about your business with a single Google search or a scroll on social media.
Online Reviews: The Deciding Factor
Online reviews have become a cornerstone of customer decision-making. Recent statistics reveal that 95% of customers read online reviews before purchasing, underscoring how deeply embedded reviews are in the buying journey. Furthermore, 49% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, making them crucial in building trust and credibility with potential customers.
First Impressions Are Digital
Before customers visit a website, enter a store, or engage with your brand, they often form an opinion based entirely on what they see online. Reviews, ratings, and social media posts show how your business operates. Positive reviews and an active digital presence can significantly enhance your brand’s appeal, while a negative or non-existent presence can drive potential customers away.
The Cost of a Negative Online Presence
In 2025, having a negative reputation—or none at all—can have a significant impact on your business. With 40% of consumers unwilling to engage with a brand with less than a 4-star rating, the stakes for managing your reputation are higher than ever. This applies not only to customer relationships but also to partnerships, investor interest, and media coverage.
What Are The Digital Marketing Channels To Use For Online Reputation Management?
There are plenty of tools to There are four distinct digital marketing channels involved in ORM, popularly referred to as the PESO model:
Paid media
Earned media
Social media
Owned properties
Here’s a closer look at what goes into each channel.
ORM Channel #1: Paid Media
Paid media refers to any online marketing effort that requires payment to feature your business on third-party websites and networks. You are paying for space on another platform to feature you. This includes Google search and display ads, PPC advertisingusing Google AdWords, Facebook display ads, and sponsored posts/branded content on industry-specific blogs and websites. Paid media helps expand your reach by building relationships with partners and customers in your domain.
ORM Channel #2: Earned Media
This refers to mentions and reportage/media/press that comes your way WITHOUT your having to pay for it. This could be on business and news websites, popular blogs and YouTube channels etc. This usually happens because your brand has caught the eye of an interested third-party, and requires you to stand out from the competition with great products & services and compelling content that you customers/audience find worth sharing.
ORM Channel #3: Social Media
Can you run a business today without a social media handle? Everyone’s on social media – and people are increasingly getting their news, views and recommendations from there. Yoursocial media pages and profiles should be an extension of who you are and offer an additional avenue for the audience to interact with you. And it has to be a two way conversation with them, not just your brand talking AT them. Dedicate time, energy and resources to a social media team who can manage conversations and post fresh content regularly. Inactive profiles can spark skepticism – so if you’re not likely to post on a particular platform, you’re better off not maintaining a handle there.
ORM Channel #4: Owned Properties
Owned properties refer to web properties owned and operated by you. This includes your website, blog, newsletter, podcasts etc. You have full control over these tools and the authority to shape the narrative and conversation. The more digital properties you own, the higher your chances at effectively building a solid online presence. However, keep them distinct – you don’t want to cause confusion by establishing properties that can’t be distinguished from one another.
Benefits And Importance Of Online Reputation Management
Online reputation management is critical for businesses to maintain a positive brand identity in the eyes of consumers. Positive reviews and comments trigger feelings of trust and respect among consumers, making them feel comfortable with your brand and nudging them towards making a purchase. Apart from the apparent benefits or more sales through word-of-mouth marketing, there are several benefits of online reputation management.
Customer satisfaction: With ORM, you can improve customer satisfaction by speaking/chatting directly with satisfied and dissatisfied customers.
Maintain relationships and avoid losing customers: There will always be an unhappy customer or two – some of whom may have had a bad shipping experience, a damaged parcel etc. Through ORM, you can salvage customer relationships by getting to work and implementing service recovery in a swift and efficient manner.
Boost brand awareness and recall value: ORM encourages you to have a two-way conversation with your customers and target audience. This helps increase brand awareness and gives customers and potential customers a better idea of who you are and what you stand for.
Cut down on marketing costs: Since you have the power to speak to your audience directly (and they know where to find you!) you can cut down on marketing costs.
Get to know your customers better: The best way to understand your customer’s pain points, like and dislikes is by talking to them directly! ORM enables you to learn more about your customers’ expectations and how you can better meet them.
To Sum Up…
Online reputation management is an exercise in two-way communication surrounding your brand – you define the narrative, but your customers also have a voice and a space to share their opinions. It’s an integral part of the growth and marketing strategy of any business. Fortunately – or unfortunately – in the digital world, there are no closing times and people will be talking about your brand constantly. With the right tools and ideas, you can create a solid online reputation management strategy to navigate online conversations, provide solutions and opinions, and foster positive sentiment for your brand.
Amol has helped catalyse business growth with his strategic & data-driven methodologies. With a decade of experience in the field of marketing, he has donned multiple hats, from channel optimization, data analytics and creative brand positioning to growth engineering and sales.
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