How to Identify an Amateur in SERM: 6 Key Indicators

Indicator 1. Unfamiliar with the processes

Often, inexperienced or negligent companies, under the guise of SERM (Search Engine Reputation Management) service, perform a simpler service for the client – ORM (Online Reputation Management). Although SERM and ORM are similar in the process of execution, the goals pursued by them are radically different.

• ORM‘s task is to process all platforms (review sites, forums, blogs, social networks, etc.) where the client’s company is discussed. The essence of processing is to update reviews where they have not been left for a long time, block negative ones if they are the latest, answer a question where it was asked, etc. All this creates a sense of relevance and demand and forms a positive brand image. In this case, it does not matter what position this platform occupies in the search results.
• SERM, on the other hand, is a more complex process. An audit of search results is conducted for the main keywords. The resulting platforms are segmented into those that are acceptable to us at the top of the list, those that need to be removed from the top, and those that need to be promoted to the top. This process forms a picture that potential clients will see when they study your company in more detail and gather opinions from existing clients.

SERM involves regular monitoring of sites that are at the top of search results. When implementing ORM, the main parameter is the number of reviews. In this case, controlling the situation of the first positions of the search engine is not foreseen.

Recommendations:

• Find out from the chosen PR agency how often they will conduct an audit of reviews at the top of the search results. If the count is done weekly, it is meaningless; control should be carried out no less than once a week;
• Pay attention to what services you are being billed for. If the invoice is for the number of reviews, then most likely, they will perform ORM under the guise of SERM;
• From time to time, monitor the search results yourself. If you see negative reviews there, and for 1-2 weeks, this platform continues to be at the top and negative reviews are not blocked, then SERM is not being performed for you.

Indicator 2. Control of all websites

There are PR companies that convince clients that they have control over absolutely all websites. They claim that they will find any information about the client on any website.

This is a deception. In the Russian Internet, there are only several million websites, and hundreds and thousands of them die and appear every day. It is impossible for anyone to monitor all of them, even with the largest budget.

There are services in which robots monitor mentions of a company on websites. As soon as someone mentions the company, the robots will see it and send you a notification. However, such services only monitor up to 10% of all websites.

The scale of the company is also important. If the business is only conducted in a specific region, then the search results need to be tailored to that region. This way, the top search results will be made up of more relevant and accurate websites.

Recommendations:

• If you are promised control of all possible websites, ask for an explanation of how exactly this is implemented. Ask to see the database of controlled websites. Most likely, there will be excuses and “breakfasts” involved.
• If your business operates only in a specific region and you have no plans to expand territorially, make sure that the search monitoring is conducted specifically for your region.

Indicator 3. Strict adherence to the volume and not a single drop more.

The level of a brand’s business reputation is the key criterion for reputation management effectiveness. The reputation level can be positive, neutral, or negative.

The goal of a PR company in executing SERM is to maintain the client brand’s image within a positive indicator. If the client’s reputation is negative at the time of service order, the goal is to gradually change the situation until the desired result is achieved.

Many PR companies rigidly adhere to the boundaries set with the client. For example, a project consisting of two components is paid for. The first component is writing 50 reviews on platforms to refresh discussions about the client company, start new threads, answer questions, etc. The second part of the task is to cover 10 negative reviews in the top search results. Suppose the company completed the first part by writing 50 reviews and the second part by covering 10 negative comments. But in the process, the executor did not check how many negative reviews are sitting in the top besides those 10? What if there are 15, then 5 negative reviews will remain unnoticed?

Recommendations:

• Clarify with the executor if they will monitor negative platforms if there are more than the planned quantity and what actions will be taken. Inquire about what the executor will do if they still discover negative feedback beyond the plan. This is important because ignored negative feedback can significantly damage a brand’s image.

Indicator 4. Selection of processed platforms

When working on brand reputation, platforms are usually divided into two types:

• Managed – these are sites that cooperate with the company and remove negative reviews in case the problem has been resolved, or if the company has proven the falsehood of the negative review;
• Unmanaged – such resources do not remove reviews, even if the author of the review requests it.

Competent PR agencies, when performing SERM, try to involve as many managed platforms as possible in their work, even if they do not occupy the proper place in the top. Working with these platforms, the PR company gradually helps to promote them to the top positions of the search engine. And there, even if negative reviews appear, they can easily be removed, leaving only positive reviews.

Many “experts” in reputation management work exclusively on popular resources or those that are already in the top. Most of such platforms belong to the second type, from which it is impossible to remove negativity.

There are two main reasons for this:

• The “specialist” simply does not understand how to explain to the client the need to work on non-popular resources, especially those that do not currently appear in the top;
• A dishonest agency benefits from the fact that there is constantly negative feedback about the client that cannot be removed, because then there will be a constant request to cover up this negativity.

Recommendations:

• Ask the performer what criteria they use to select platforms. If the answer is that they only work on popular ones, those in the top, and where there is negative feedback, then this is not quite what you need. This list must include managed sites;
• Do not tell the performer where to work. You can suggest a maximum of 2-3 platforms that you think are very important. But at the same time, think again, are they really necessary? Otherwise, you are removing the responsibility from the performer for the wrong selection of platforms, as you yourself have indicated the list to work with.

Indicator 5. “To blow one’s cover”

Most PR companies do not care about proper and safe work. They do not try to hide their identity, they often do not read what and where they post, and they are not concerned about how a particular text will look on a specific platform. This applies not only to small companies but also to giant corporations.

The main mistakes that PR companies make when working are:

• Multi-accounting: registering multiple accounts from the same IP address. This is prohibited on more than 99% of platforms. The punishment is a ban on the account and a bright remark in the client’s thread.
• Transvestite accounts: posting female reviews from male accounts and vice versa. This will not result in a ban, but it will damage the reputation.
• Account amnesia: people often do not pay attention to what they have already written. As a result, they begin to contradict themselves or leave reviews with different details, often one after another. This causes confusion and laughter among other users.
• Split personality: one account conducts a dialogue with itself, which is very common!
• Herd instinct: all accounts that promote a client always want to “hold hands” from thread to thread.

In fact, these mistakes can be listed for a very long time, an experienced employee knows most of them and can avoid them. Amateurs, on the other hand, will make mistakes one after another, which will lead to the opposite of the expected result.

Getting a mark that your company is artificially boosting its rating is easy, but fixing this mistake and getting rid of this mark is often impossible or very expensive.

Recommendations:

• Do not be lazy, study the reports on the work provided by the performer. If you don’t have time to do it yourself, appoint a responsible person for this process. It will be enough to review the threads where the work is being done once every 3-4 months. You will immediately notice obvious mistakes. For a more thorough audit, a specialist should perform it.

Indicator 6. Absence of an official representative

Every client wants the fact that they have ordered reputation management services to remain hidden. This is a very reasonable position. However, the service provider often forgets about this and answers client questions from an account whose role is not clear to everyone.

For example, a client asks a question that they would like to be answered by an official representative of the company. Instead, they get a response from someone named “John777,” or worse yet, “PR-master.” If the answer in the first case causes confusion and new questions, then in the second case, it will only cause problems. This scenario is quite common.

If the project terms stipulate that the service provider should respond on behalf of the company, they should do so from a properly registered account. Often, platforms allow you to create an account with the special status of an official representative, which is the correct solution.

Recommendations:

• From time to time, check which account the service provider is using to respond to client questions. If you agreed to an official representative, and the account name does not include the company’s name, and the avatar is not the company’s logo, this means that the professionalism of such a PR company is low;
• If an official representative is expected on the platforms, and the service provider has not asked for a corporate email for themselves, ask them which email they plan to use to register the representative’s account and whether they plan to do so at all.

Conclusion

Good and quality PR cannot be cheap. Some processes require a lot of resources to be completed. The price for services is one of the parameters that can help you understand who you are dealing with. If the price for the work is low, it may mean that you are dealing with amateurs who do not spend much resources on completing the work.

However, if the price tag is high enough, demand both the quality of the work and from the performer. Constantly monitor the work done, ask questions about the results. This will show that you are interested in the process and the work will be done more qualitatively.

If you don’t have enough budget to order quality PR, it is highly recommended not to turn to cheap companies. In this case, you risk making things worse for yourself with your own money. If you are told that bad PR is also PR, keep in mind that amateurs use this as an excuse for their incompetence.

Even with a small budget, turn to an expensive company, immediately specify your budget and tell them about your problem. Some may laugh and point you out the door, while others will understand and advise you on your issue.