Protect Your Organization's Online Reputation

Your responsibility to your organization’s reputation extends beyond the corporate reports and website. The internet and social media have expanded the playing field.

Corporate reputations take years to build but can be tarnished in minutes.
A poor reputation can lead to loss of customers, loss of revenue, and even business failure.
Reputation threats come from all directions. Public opinion can be as damaging as ransomware.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

Organizations have an online presence, whether they know it or not. You don’t know what you don’t know! Find out what is online about you and manage it using Info-Tech’s framework.

Impact and Result

Many organizations fail to appreciate the importance of their online presence and reputation. Some of the benefits of protecting your organizations online reputation include:

Increased customer trust and loyalty
Enhanced competitive advantage
Improved financial performance

Protect Your Organization's Online Reputation Research & Tools

1. Protect Your Organization's Online Reputation Deck – Protect your corporate reputation and online presence from threats using Info-Tech’s six-step framework.

Online reputation protection is a critical component of a company's success and can provide a wide range of benefits that can help drive long-term growth and profitability.

2. Online Reputation Report Template – Identify the current state of your reputation with your own online reputation report.

Use the Online Reputation Report Template to get started with a professional report for your executive suite. Reference the prepopulated data in the report template and replace the sample data with your own data.

Protect Your Organization’s Online Reputation

Manage your online presence before it negatively impacts your organization’s reputation.

Analyst Perspective

Reputations are peculiar entities. They take years to establish but can be destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Think back to when you last made a major purchase. There is a good chance that you researched the product and vendor online before making the purchase. We are living in the digital age where information is just a click away. You can research just about anything online, and that includes businesses. Every organization you can think of is online, and on more than one site or platform.

The downside of this online presence is that everyone can see everything about you that is online, and people love to post things. This is usually good, but sometimes a bad experience can result in a very negative post online. Those negative posts can be read by everyone, and that could have a negative impact on your organization. Sometimes the complaint is not even warranted, but it still gets posted. If you are not actively monitoring your online presence, you could be in for a big surprise someday.

Many organizations don’t even know what is online about them. This is concerning. Knowing your online reputation can go a long way to understanding and improving your business. Don’t be caught by surprise. Gain control of your organization's online reputation today and protect it with Info-Tech’s framework.

P.J. Ryan
Research Director, Infrastructure & Operations
Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Your Challenge	Common Obstacles	Info-Tech’s Approach
Corporate reputations take years to build but can be tarnished in minutes. A poor reputation can lead to loss of customers and revenue, and even business failure. Organizations want to remain transparent, but they must also maintain privacy and security. Your responsibility to your organization’s reputation extends beyond the corporate reports and website. The internet and social media have expanded the playing field.	Many organizations don’t know where they have a presence or whether it is positive or negative. The online threat landscape is constantly evolving. Reputation threats come from all directions. Public opinion can be as damaging as ransomware. It’s no longer sufficient to only pay attention to how you word a specific email or public announcement. You must become proactive in your online reputation management.	Use Info-Tech’s framework to manage your online reputation: Assess Your Current Online Reputation Identify Online Threats Develop a Communication Strategy Manage Comments, Feedback, and Reviews Promote Transparency and Accountability Evaluate and Adjust

Your Challenge

Common Obstacles

Info-Tech’s Approach

Corporate reputations take years to build but can be tarnished in minutes.
A poor reputation can lead to loss of customers and revenue, and even business failure.
Organizations want to remain transparent, but they must also maintain privacy and security.

Your responsibility to your organization’s reputation extends beyond the corporate reports and website. The internet and social media have expanded the playing field.

Many organizations don’t know where they have a presence or whether it is positive or negative.
The online threat landscape is constantly evolving.
Reputation threats come from all directions. Public opinion can be as damaging as ransomware.

It’s no longer sufficient to only pay attention to how you word a specific email or public announcement. You must become proactive in your online reputation management.

Use Info-Tech’s framework to manage your online reputation:

Assess Your Current Online Reputation
Identify Online Threats
Develop a Communication Strategy
Manage Comments, Feedback, and Reviews
Promote Transparency and Accountability
Evaluate and Adjust

Info-Tech Insight

Organizations have an online presence, whether they realize it or not. You don’t know what you don’t know. Find out what is online about you and manage it using Info-Tech’s online reputation framework.

The importance of your online reputation

Many organizations fail to appreciate the importance of their online presence and reputation.

Overall, online reputation protection is a critical component of a company's success and can provide a wide range of benefits that can help drive long-term growth and profitability.
Improved financial performance: A strong brand reputation can lead to increased revenue and profitability. Customers are willing to pay a premium for products or services from companies with a positive reputation, and a strong brand reputation can help attract and retain top talent as well.
Enhanced competitive advantage: A strong brand reputation can help differentiate a company from its competitors and provide a competitive advantage in the marketplace. This can lead to increased market share and growth opportunities.

79% of online users report trusting online reviews as much as recommendations from friends or family
(Blue Ocean Global Technology, 2022).

94% of consumers avoid businesses with a bad or negative reputation (Signpost, 2022).

Protect Your Organization’s Online Reputation

Organizations have an online presence, whether they know it or not. You don’t know what you don’t know. Find what is online about you and manage it using Info-Tech’s framework.

Protect your corporate reputation and online presence from threats using Info-Tech’s six-step framework.

Assess Your Current Online Reputation
- Disgruntled employees
- Negative news articles
Identify Online Reputation Threats
- Existing corporate reputation
Develop a Communication Strategy
- Cyberthreats
Manage Comments, Feedback, and Reviews
Promote Transparency and Accountability
- Corporate website content
- Negative reviews
- Online images and videos
Evaluate and Adjust
- Infrastructure failure

Online Presence

Corporate website
Social media
Online reviews
Public media
Email
Industry, regional, and community websites

Member problem:

Corporate reputations take years to build but can be tarnished in minutes.
A poor reputation can lead to loss of customers and revenue, and even business failure.
Organizations want to remain transparent, but they must also maintain privacy and security.

22% of customers will avoid a business if they discover a single negative review. This number jumps to nearly 60% if potential customers find three or more negative reviews (Minc Law, 2023).

Protect Your Organization’s Online Reputation

Online reputation

25% of a company’s market value is due to reputation (Transmission Private, 2020)

94% of consumers say that a bad review has convinced them to avoid a business (ReviewTrackers, 2022)

14 hours is the average time it takes for a false claim to be corrected on social media (Risk Analysis, 2018)

The importance of a reputation strategy

A positive online reputation does not happen by accident. It takes hard work and a strategy. Approaching your online reputation with a strategy yields many benefits.

Reduced legal and regulatory risks: Companies that have effective brand reputation protection strategies in place are better equipped to comply with legal and regulatory requirements related to data privacy, consumer protection, and other areas. This can help reduce legal and regulatory risks, as well as potential fines or other penalties.
Better crisis management: A well-developed brand reputation protection strategy can help a company respond more effectively to crises, such as negative press or social media attacks. This can help minimize damage to the brand's reputation and limit the financial impact of a crisis.
Increased customer trust and loyalty: When a company takes proactive steps to protect its brand reputation, it can help build trust with customers and enhance their loyalty. Customers are more likely to do business with a company that they perceive as reliable and trustworthy.

59% of shoppers said they perform online research (Semrush Blog, 2023).

82% of customers expect you to respond to their social media posts within 24 hours (BrandMentions, n.d.).

Insight summary

An organizational reputation, online or offline, does not just magically appear. It takes months or even years of hard work to build a reputation. That same reputation can be destroyed overnight if not properly managed.

A positive online reputation does not happen by accident. Hard work from multiple angles is required.

Negative publicity, poor customer experiences, or unethical behavior can quickly erode a brand's reputation and have lasting consequences, such as decreased sales, negative media coverage, and damage to stakeholder trust.

Review gating is tempting but is considered unethical by some, and not a good practice. There are better alternatives.

Organizations have an online presence, yet many have no idea whether it is positive or negative. Find what is online about you and manage it. You don’t know what you don’t know.

Manage your online reputation with Info-Tech’s framework

Follow these best practices to make sure your organization’s online reputation remains positive:

Assess Your Current Online Reputation
Identify Online Reputation Threats
Develop a Communication Strategy
Manage Comments, Feedback, and Reviews
Promote Transparency and Accountability
Evaluate and Adjust

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