Online Reputation Management in Arabic
Companies around the world are becoming aware of the fact that the way they appear online in different global markets affects their goals and success. For companies wishing to have a presence in the Middle East, reputation management is just as important to their Arabic marketing efforts online as it is to their marketing efforts in English speaking countries. Like many other countries around the world rumors and bad press spread quickly in the Arab world. It is important to deal with these issues as quickly and effectively as possible to avoid tarnishing a company’s brand image and in turn its sales.
Having worked on some of the most difficult reputation scenarios, IstiZada is able to apply the same principles in the Arabic language to clean up a company’s name.
What makes IstiZada right for your Middle East ORM campaign?
- Experience. We have experience working on some of the most difficult ORM campaigns.
- We are knowledgeable of all the Arabic speaking markets including all 25 Arabic-speaking countries.
- We know how to run your ORM to compliment your existing marketing.
- Western/Arab collaboration. IstiZada combines great Western project management with Arab insight into the Middle East and its culture.
Unique Facets of Online Reputation Management in the Middle East and North Africa
- Religion plays much more of a role in a brands reputation than in other regions of the world
- Spammy websites and black hat SEO are prevalent in the Middle East
- Audiences in the Middle East can be emotional
- Social media prevalence and it’s high level of usage in the region can turn a reputation problem into a nightmare
Example of a Reputation Issue in the Middle East
Several years ago after depictions of the Prophet Muhammad were published in a Danish newspaper, Muslims boycotted Danish products. One of the companies that was affected greatly by this boycott was Lurpak, a Danish producer of dairy products. Before the boycott Lurpak butter was one of the best selling butter brands in the Middle East. During the boycott all Lurpak products were pulled from the shelves of many supermarkets. Sales of Lurpak products in the Middle East took a nose dive until tensions over the newspaper depictions subsided.
What is online reputation management
When individuals or organizations find that they are receiving a lot of bad press or negative reviews online they need to find ways to making this bad press become less visible online. Nothing on the Internet totally disappears anymore, but since most people searching for information on the Internet don’t look very deeply within search results, making denigrating sites a little less visible online can help improve a company’s reputation greatly. Many times if a denigrating listing can move just a few positions down in the search results it can have an extremely positive effect on a company’s reputation. Moving a denigrating search result off the first page of Google for branded terms can have a even greater impact on improving a company’s reputation online. The fundamentals of Arabic reputation management are the same as the online reputation management in any other language, but language is an important factor. The key is to help push positive sites in to positions once held by negative sites.
Why Online Reputation Management is Important
You may think that your reputation online doesn’t matter if your product speaks for itself. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Managing your reputation is essential to your success as a business. This is because consumers are proven to be influenced by reviews. Studies even show that over 90% of consumers are affected by reviews when they purchase something. This means that for the majority of consumers, a negative review or negative hearsay about your product or site could make or break their decision to become a customer. If you find you’re getting negative press, it’s essential to get started with ORM as soon as possible to preserve your reputation and maintain your customer base.
Arabic Reputation Management for Individuals
IstiZada can also help individuals with reputation issues in the Arabic language. The challenge with the web today is anyone can make false claims about someone without proof if they have a website or an online outlet to make the claims. Since these individuals can be located in different countries it becomes nearly impossible to use traditional court systems to fix the issue. This is why high profile individuals need a proactive online reputation strategy to make sure denigrating information disappears quickly on the web. This is true regardless of the language you are dealing with and Arabic is no exception.
Arabic ORM Pricing
All ORM services and packages are custom due the complicated nature of ORM and the vast array of reputation issues online. Prices will be based on the extent of the clean up needed and the number of keywords and regions that have issues.
Contact us today for a free evaluation and quote.
Integration with other marketing services
Reputation Management, though essential for not losing traffic, is rarely an effective driver of significant inbound traffic. If you are also interested in driving new Arabic speaking traffic to your site you might consider some of our other services including:
- Search Engine Optimization
- Pay Per Click Advertising
- Display Advertising
- Conversion Optimization
- Advanced Web Analytics
- Programmatic Advertising
