Companies are talking a lot about social media marketing and trying to figure out what to do. Many think having a Facebook page is the biggest priority. No doubt Facebook is important – after all 600 million users ain’t bad. But what many lose site of is their reputation online and what people are saying about them online. This IS social media and many call it Online Reputation Management (ORM).

Why should ORM become a bigger priority? An article came out this morning about how social media users trust brand and product information. The survey indicates that 37% of users trust information received from friends and people they know. This far exceeds the next biggest source of social media information – blogs, which are trusted by 26% of users. The graph to the right illustrates results from the survey done in May of this year.

People are talking about your brand/product online – are you aware of what they are saying? Your brand/product may be getting reviewed online – are you aware of the ratings? We’ve had several clients come to us inquiring about doing Facebook and Twitter marketing, and when we show them they have negative ratings online available for the world to see, they quickly re-prioritize their desires and begin focusing on getting better reviews and communicating with customers who may have had a less than desirable experience with their brand/product

There are many tools and tactics that can be implemented as part of an ORM campaign, and these can significantly improve what users can learn about your brand/product online. Your reputation is everything, and far surpasses the possibility of having 100 Facebook friends.

As more of us go online to gather information about brands and products, the more we will rely on the comments, posts, reviews and ratings from our friends and others. Invest in ORM – it will pay off for you.