It’s no secret the internet has changed the way companies do business. In 2019, 1.92 billion people shopped online.
While ecommerce has put many bricks and mortar retail stores out of business, it’s been a great help to the healthcare industry. The internet and ecommerce have reduced the strain on healthcare practitioners as non-emergency patients can seek solutions online. Additionally, selling and distributing healthcare products to suppliers and medical institutions have never been easier.
For online sales, a company’s true success lies in its online reputation management (ORM). To generate leads and boost revenue, healthcare companies need to understand ORM in healthcare and apply it to their digital marketing strategy.
What is ORM?
When prospective customers search your company on the internet, your online reputation is the perception they gain about you from the information they find. ORM is a combination of strategic SEO, public relations, and marketing tactics to protect your company’s online image while promoting your business and services.
Several factors impact your online reputation. Whether you realize it or not, people are talking about your company online. From social media mentions and public review comments to the content you post online, the amount of positive and negative visibility your business maintains determines your online reputation.
Cycles of ORM in Healthcare
People rely heavily on the information they find on the internet. 90% of online consumers depend on reviews for their purchase decisions. Your company’s online reputation is primarily under the control of your digital audience, since it’s their feedback and input that others will see when researching your company.
ORM can follow one of two cycles:
- Vicious: Your website has outdated content or consumers leave poor reviews about your company. Prospective customers find this through search engines and click on it. That information is promoted, and social media perpetuates the negative feedback. Follow-up commentary or online gossip further spreads the information, and the cycle continues, damaging your online reputation.
- Virtuous cycle: Current, meaningful website content earns you high search engine rankings. Prospects click on your website for meaningful information. Search engines see you as a valuable resource and continue to promote your website. Social media magnifies engaging content, and positive reviews create more traffic to continue the cycle. Business soars.
Through these cycles, it’s easy to see the impact of your company’s online content, and how important it is to manage your business’s online reputation.
Why Your Healthcare Company Needs ORM
ORM is important for healthcare companies. People purchasing for the healthcare supply chain need to know they can depend on the products they buy from your company. That means they need to feel they can trust you.
ORM enables companies to do this in several ways.
Online Reputation Has a Long Shelf Life
If someone leaves a negative review about your company, it can have a lasting impact on your business. This is especially true in the healthcare industry. Healthcare is an extremely lucrative market riddled with competition. To stand out from other manufacturers, brand management is essential. ORM can help solidify your position as a dependable company providing reliable products.
Mitigate False Information
Healthcare is a social hot topic, so people are highly sensitive to misinformation. If a product doesn’t do what it claims or has unreported negative effects, the results can be detrimental to the end user. ORM ensures you’re posting the most current, accurate information possible.
As a manufacturer, customers look to you to be an expert in your industry. They need to trust that you’re providing safe, effective products that they can verify to their clients. This is to protect their reputation, and they surely won’t do business with a company that could jeopardize it.
ORM Empowers You to Impact Your Online Reputation
With ORM, you’ll realize you have some power over how people view your business online. After all, the most effective ORM in healthcare is prevention. Be proactive in maintaining your online reputation to ensure your business is held in high regard among current and prospective customers.
The healthcare industry is ever-changing. ORM provides the opportunity to make sure your website content reflects recent healthcare trends. It drives you to check that your product listings include useful descriptions, accurate imagery, and current pricing.
ORM also inspires you to assess your website links, ensuring they lead to existing articles and resources. It challenges you to think about load time and the function of your checkout process. ORM also entices you to optimize your website for mobile users, since 82% of online shoppers purchase from their mobile device.
Ultimately, ORM helps you to provide an enjoyable user experience. Enhanced UX, in turn, yields positive feedback, thus boosting your online reputation.
Entrust Your ORM in Healthcare to Share Moving Media
To solidify your online reputation in the healthcare industry, use ORM to maintain current and reliable information on your website and monitor online mentions and comments about your business. ORM takes time and effort. Contact Share Moving Media today for help developing an ORM strategy for your healthcare company.