The 50 key figures to know about online reputation

In 2013, 5,000 companies, executives and individuals used the dashboard to track their online reputation score, to improve, protect and monitor how their Google page evolved. Online reputation has, in fact, become part of everyday habits and even the daily life of everyone. A demonstration with the 50 key figures to know about online reputation.

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently” said American businessman Warren Buffet. This quote captures the vital stakes of online reputation, whose global market (services and software), estimated at 1.8 billion euros in 2011, keeps growing.

Online reputation and companies

Today, online reputation represents the number 1 risk for 40% of companies, compared to 26% in 2010.
61% of companies say they monitor their online reputation.
Everything published online, especially on social media, is instantly visible and can potentially be seen by 2.09 billion people.
Within 5 years, 83% of companies will have to face an online crisis that will impact their share price and their revenue.
Companies have more than ever the duty to react, because 80% of what is said about a brand on the Internet does not come from the brand.
60% of internet users prefer to click on the other search results rather than on the company’s website.

Consumers have indeed taken power:

74% of them research on Google before buying a product or a service.
64% consult the reviews and ratings of other internet users before making a purchase.
They also trust their friends more ( 90%) and unknown internet users ( 78%) than the brand’s advertising ( 16%), or even its CEO ( 54%) or the brand’s website ( 64%).

When crises arrive, the “bad buzz”:

30% of them are immediately relayed by international media within the hour following the first announcement.
In 40% of cases, companies have no emergency plan. On average, they only communicate 21h after the start of the crisis.
90% of crises last less than 72 hours but can leave indelible marks.
Moreover, 53% of companies hit by a bad buzz had not recovered their initial share price 1 year later.

Nevertheless, when the company engages in conversation on social media:

74% of internet users appreciate it and have a more positive image of the brands.
Likewise, when the brand interacts with their friends, 64% of internet users trust the brand.

Which goes to show that a well-managed crisis can also be an opportunity for the company!

Online reputation and individuals

Individuals are also becoming aware of the stakes of their reputation on the Internet:

85% of internet users pay attention to the traces they leave on the web, and more particularly on Google, which is the main search engine used by internet users (for 91% of French people).
71% are fans of Googling, which consists of running a Google query on one of their acquaintances.
Not only are internet users very present on the Internet ( 59% of internet users spend more than 12 hours per week on it, and 23% surf on their smartphone), but they are also very active on it ( 77% get informed and share on the Internet, 62% communicate and 25% create content).

They have, in fact, invaded social media. There are 600 million of them on Facebook and 145 million on Twitter who can make or break the reputation of a person or a company. 41% of complaints are, moreover, expressed equally on Facebook and Twitter (compared to 11% on a blog and 7% on YouTube).

Online reputation and employment

The traces left on the Internet take on particular importance when looking for a job:

90% of recruiters enter your name into a search engine, “google” you (compared to 68% in 2012 according to Régionjobs) to learn more about their potential employees.
48% of recruiters and HR managers make the decision to hire or not based on websites or social media.
33% of recruiters have already ruled out a candidate following negative traces found online.
Conversely, 31% of recruiters have hired a candidate following positive traces found on the Google page.

On social media:

79% of people contacted by a recruiter were contacted on Viadeo and 43% on LinkedIn (compared to 3% on Facebook and 1% on Twitter).
8% of companies have fired someone for abusing social media.

According to a 2011 study by Harris Interactive:

42% of internet users also use Google to research their colleagues and their bosses.
45% have, moreover, found things that discouraged them from working with them.

Sources:

(1) According to the publisher Digimind (www.digimind.fr)

(2) Study by the Deloitte firm with Forbes Insight conducted in spring 2013 with 300 executives and managers: http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-France/Local%20Assets/Documents/publications/1311%20Exploring%20Strategic%20Risk/Exploring\_strategic\_risk\_nov2013.pdf

(3) http://www.cadic-services.com/gerer-son-e-reputation/#.Uu9Gz3d5PxZ

(4) according to the American communications agency Digital Firefly.

(5) https://www.slideshare.net/pys0209/social-media-for-marketing and Nielsen.com. Global Online Consumer Survey. 2011. E-book.

(6) (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer)

(7) http://lecercle.lesechos.fr/entreprises-marches/high-tech-medias/internet/221189158/gestion-crise-medias-sociaux-mieux-vaut-prev

(8) www.echo-study.com

(9) Forrester Research – Groundswell

(10) According to Nicolas Vanderbiest, “la gestion de crise de l’e-réputation des entreprises”.

(11) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/380413499746231327/