Reputation management lives within the wide world of sales and marketing, and though it can be described as a “tactic,” it’s hardly negligible. In reality, reputation management is a core component of sales and marketing. Why? Because what people think of a brand influences everything about that brand. It's nearly impossible to sell a product to a clientele that doesn't trust or believe in your brand.

With a good reputation management plan, you can clear the way for positive messages to have the maximum effect. When people already believe in your company's mission your content will reach more of its readers.

These are all examples of how the emergence of online communication platforms has made reputation more delicate. Whereas before people who had a bad experience with a business may have only told a few close friends, now they have the ability to publish their views online, where they can reach thousands, even millions of people. These days, a single badly handled situation can quickly plunge a company into bankruptcy.

It’s no surprise, then, that businesses shell out tens of thousands of dollars a month in an effort to preserve or improve their reputations. If you knew you could prevent a potentially devastating crisis, wouldn’t you pull out the credit card? As search engines have all but replaced word-of-mouth referrals, online reputation management has become an industry that purports to exercise massive sway over public opinion