Unit 2: Online reputation management
Branding and Reputation Management notes · PTU syllabus (MBA 975-26)
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Unit summary
What people say online is a brand's reputation. This unit covers monitoring tools such as Google Alerts, Mention and Brandwatch, review management on Google Business Profile, Yelp and social media, SEO for reputation and search engine reputation management, and ethics of transparency and authenticity.
After this unit you can
- Use reputation monitoring tools
- Manage online reviews
- Apply search engine reputation management
- Practise transparency and authenticity
PTU syllabus topics
- Monitoring tools (Google Alerts, Mentions, Brandwatch)
- review management on Google Business Profile/Yelp/social media
- SEO for reputation and Search Engine Reputation Management
- ethics in transparency and authenticity
- 1Monitor mentions
Google Alerts, Brandwatch
- 2Respond to reviews
Fast and courteous
- 3Fix the underlying issue
- 4Promote positive content
SEO
- 5Measure sentiment over time
Topic 1
Monitoring tools
Google Alerts
Free email alerts for brand mentions
Mention
Real-time web and social mentions
Brandwatch and Talkwalker
Enterprise social listening and sentiment
Sprout Social and Hootsuite
Social inbox and monitoring
Review aggregators
Ratings across platforms
- What to monitor: brand and product names, executives, competitors, campaign hashtags, industry issues, sentiment trends and spikes.
Topic 2
Review management
- Platforms: Google Business Profile, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Zomato, Amazon and Flipkart reviews, app stores, social media.
- 1
Encourage reviews from satisfied customers
- 2
Monitor all platforms
- 3
Respond promptly and politely
- 4
Address negative reviews constructively
Apologise, explain, offer to resolve offline
- 5
Learn and fix root causes
- 6
Report fake reviews to platforms
- India: BIS standard IS 19000:2022 on online consumer reviews — prohibits paid or fake reviews and requires disclosure.
Topic 3
SEO for reputation and search engine reputation management
- SERM: managing what appears on the first page of search results for a brand or person.
- Tactics: own and optimise brand assets (website, social profiles, Wikipedia where appropriate, press pages), publish positive and relevant content, earn media coverage, respond to and resolve criticism, use structured data and knowledge panels, legal remedies for defamatory content.
- Avoid: fake content, suppressing legitimate criticism dishonestly.
Topic 4
Ethics in transparency and authenticity
- Honest communication, admitting mistakes, disclosing sponsorships and AI-generated content, no fake reviews or followers, respecting privacy, consistency between brand promises and behaviour (avoiding greenwashing).
Key terms
- Online reputation management
- Monitoring and shaping a brand's online image
- SERM
- Search engine reputation management
- Social listening
- Monitoring online conversations
- Fake review
- Review not reflecting a genuine customer experience
- Greenwashing
- Misleading environmental claims
Quick revision
- Monitoring tools and what to monitor.
- Review management process; IS 19000:2022.
- SERM tactics.
- Transparency, authenticity, greenwashing.
Important exam questions
Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).
Short-answer questions
- Q1.Name three reputation monitoring tools.
- Q2.State three steps in managing negative reviews.
- Q3.What is IS 19000:2022?
- Q4.What is SERM?
- Q5.State two SERM tactics.
- Q6.What is greenwashing?
Long-answer questions
- Q1.Explain tools and methods of online reputation monitoring.
- Q2.Discuss review management on digital platforms.
- Q3.Explain SEO for reputation and search engine reputation management.
- Q4.Discuss ethics of transparency and authenticity in brand reputation.
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