Guide to Online Reputation Management
Any business owner understands the importance of keeping a good brand reputation when it comes to building trust with potential customers. Before making a purchase, 89 per cent of shoppers read consumer feedback, and the internet provides unlimited opportunities for customers to share their praises—or express their disapproval. As a result, intelligent advertisers are turning to online reputation management to monitor how their brands are viewed online.
Digital reputation management entails monitoring reviews, mentions, news, and other forms your business can be obtained online, as well as developing response strategies that paint your business in a positive light.
Think of it as simple public relations—managing (on a smaller level) your corporation’s reputation and developing a narrative for how it interacts with its customers.
It can be daunting to overcome the negative and build optimistic online reputations. Luckily, we’ve put together this helpful guide for developing and implementing a successful online reputation management plan, so your company can have a good online presence even if you don’t know a single thing about business reputation management before reading this post or you are a beginner in this field. Let’s explore more.
- Before You Get Started
It is important to note that your online reputation is entirely dependent on your relationship with your buyers.
Before customers go online to discuss your brand, make sure you’re getting excellent customer service so they still have good things to say. In addition, try to create a supportive brand community on social media in order to attract brand ambassadors who would be encouraged to share positively on your behalf.
At the end of the day, no matter how good your service is, there will always be people who are unhappy, as well as people who want something your company cannot do. Your mission in reputation management is to demonstrate to clients that you care for what they have to say and are able to work toward a constructive solution.
Step 1: Examine your current online reputation.
If you’re a brand-new business, that’s fantastic! You will most likely have no online reputation and should proceed to step 2. However, if your company has been in existence for a while, you can evaluate your company’s current online image and make preparations to fix it.
- Find all of the company’s existing websites, profiles, and mentions. You can do this by doing a quick Google search for your company’s name or your company’s name plus “reviews.” The first few pages of search results can give you an idea of where customers are seeking information about your company, whether it’s on social networks, online market directories, third-party buying sites like Amazon and eBay, or review websites like the BBB. Take note of what others are saying about you, both good and evil.
- Allow entry to all profiles and sites that you can manage. You should also have access to your social media pages as well as any shopping sites that are part of your omnichannel campaign. If you discover your company listed on a directory or review website, many of these platforms encourage you to “claim” a current listing for your company and update it.
- Double-check the validity of your listed business information. Address, phone number, and email address should all be compatible with all accounts. Where allowed, having a clear logo and market definition would also bring value to the company.
- Evaluate how to address existing issues. If you haven’t been keeping up with consumer feedback or ratings on a specific channel, we recommend starting with those made during the last month. This would encourage you to focus on more modern, still-salvageable circumstances rather than reminding frustrated consumers of previous, sour emotions that they might have forgotten about.
Step 2: Create a strategy for tracking new mentions and ratings.
Including reputation management in the approach introduces a slew of new things to keep track of. Before you get into the weeds, make a schedule to maintain clear exposure and a prompt response rate to any feedback or complaints.
- Determine your capacity for reputation management. If you can only have an hour per week to sift through a new operation, or perhaps you have an employee who can devote 30 minutes a day. Maybe you can only keep records of a few channels, or maybe you want to monitor as many as possible. Have a timetable and a daily monitoring schedule for yourself to ensure that certain projects do not slip between the cracks. In the meantime, keep an eye on the pace at which new interaction appears—you may need to change your approach as you get more familiar with your consumers’ contact frequency.
- Configure alerts to be informed automatically of any new activity. Set up alerts for feedback, tweets, and ratings on social media platforms that support them. Set up Google Alerts with your company so that you are aware of any new online mentions. Most review sites will send you an email when a new review is posted, so make sure that option is turned on. To track your ratings, you can also use a review-monitoring tool like Yotpo.
- Be prepared to respond to frequently asked questions, comments, or complaints. If a certain part of your company is often brought up, write a blurb ahead of time that you can use to answer any time it is brought up. For eg, if your shipping company has been having problems, save a line like, “Thank you for sharing this useful input!” We are aware of some shipment delays and are working with our shipping partners to resolve the issue.” that you can use if upset consumers start commenting on your social media accounts.
- Make emergency plans for negative press. Preparing for the worst is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your business. Create a roadmap for notifying consumers about a big shift or responding to derogatory claims in the event of a crisis, including who will be in charge of messaging (your marketing team? A public relations or reputation marketing firm?) and the right platforms for communication. Being trained ahead of time will relieve some of the stress at the moment.
Step 3: Create a strategy for responding to customer reviews.
Customer reviews are the most critical part of your brand marketing strategy because they provide prospective clients with direct, impartial opinions of the company and goods. Your response to these reviews will depict you as loving, distant, or aggressive, based on how you treat them strategically. Once you’ve formulated a strategy for monitoring new feedback, take the following measures to ensure that your comments are seen as customer-centric.
- Respond to new reviews as soon as possible. If you don’t have the bandwidth to keep up with this on a regular basis, don’t worry—more it’s important to focus on having a decent consumer service on the back end. However, the faster you react to feedback (especially bad ones), the better your company would appear.
- Maintain a polite attitude when listening to reviews. Remember that something you write online under the company’s name can be seen as an official response. Unless your brand has a clearly casual personality, keep your words kind but formal. NEVER become territorial, refer to consumers as “liars,” blame them for complaints, or reveal too specific knowledge about their inquiries.
- Handle negative feedback with care. To follow up on the previous argument, make sure that your reactions to critical feedback are respectful and empathetic—it may be tempting to protect your company if falsehoods have been alleged, but reacting aggressively never looks good. Answer publicly that you are investigating the matter and attempting to resolve it offline—if the problem is resolved satisfactorily, the consumer can feel better deleting their unfavourable rating completely, and you may receive a return customer.
- Request personal testimonies from satisfied customers. The easiest way to ensure your online image is strong is to invite clients who have had a positive experience to openly express their opinions. This is an excellent way to drown out all bad feedback. Repeatedly soliciting feedback often means that reviews for the company or goods are current—there is nothing more suspicious than a company whose last review was five years ago.
- Express gratitude to customers who leave reviews. When responding to reviews, remember to thank consumers for their input—after all, they did take time out of their day to express their experience, whether positive or negative. In any case, thanking customers demonstrates to potential future customers that you welcome input and are actively striving to better your market.
Step 4: Be vigilant in order to avoid negative press and reviews.
Responding to negative online feedback is a good first step in strengthening your online image, but stopping them in the first place is much better—and will save you time in the long run. Below are a few strategies for preventing harmful events from reaching the internet before they occur:
- Provide high-quality products, services, and experiences. The most effective approach to avoid bad feedback or press is to have such an enjoyable product that consumers can’t think of anything negative to suggest. Be certain that the products are made with consistency and care. If the spirit of your shop is to offer low-cost goods to price-conscious consumers, make it explicit in the storey you share online so that customers aren’t disappointed because they get products that aren’t of the quality they want. Make the billing, shipping, and distribution processes clear and communicative, and invest significantly in delivering an excellent customer support experience.
- Solicit reviews early and in private. Any users will need to vent anyway, but you can avoid negative online press by redirecting their complaints to a private channel. Incorporate email surveys into the order phase such that frustrated consumers have a place to vent before they go online. (Of course, make sure you read and react to their comments as well, so they don’t feel ignored and try to make their dissatisfaction clear to everyone.)
- Ensure that your company is easy to access. Most users are more concerned about getting their dilemma resolved than they are with blasting the company online—typically, unfavourable online feedback emerge because consumers believe they have exhausted their other choices. If you have an easily accessible phone number, email address, and/or chat feature on your online shop, consumers will most likely want to contact you directly via these channels first to fix their problem.
Step 5: Obtain favourable positive press for your business.
If you have the resources, you will go the extra mile with a strategic strategy that can boost the brand’s visibility online. These tips aren’t necessary for effective reputation management, but they’re a nice bonus.
- Leverage your most positive feedback. Receiving positive feedback is fine, but spreading it broadly is much better. Post them as testimonials on your website or social media accounts, and incorporate them into any marketing materials you make. When you get negative feedback, use it to guide your future plan.
- Tell people about interesting business news. Have you changed your services to include something that customers have requested? Have you recently partnered with a market leader? Post about it in places where the clients are likely to see it, such as a blog or social media.
- A press release is another excellent choice if you are a larger corporation.
Volunteer in the neighbourhood. Giving back is a perfect way to get clients to equate the company’s brand with good feelings. Plus, it’s nice for the environment! Donate materials or your resources to a deserving charity, and educate your friends about it—about how they can help, too.
Step 6: Protect Your Brand’s Image
Copyright compliance is one of the most important yet often forgotten aspects of reputation management. To protect your identity, get your brand name trademarked with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Once you get a trademark, Google and Amazon can provide some rights for how your brand name is used on their websites.
Maintain vigilance in upholding the copyright—knockoffs and imitators will seriously damage your brand’s image. Furthermore, you don’t want them to use your brand name in internet advertisements because it confuses consumers and may cause a major headache for you.
- Wrap Up:
When it comes to driving consumers into the sales funnel, a good online reputation will work wonders. It will also provide you with user testimonials and content for your marketing campaigns. A bad reputation, on the other hand, could lead consumers to look for alternatives to your business. You will eventually increase sales—and your business—by prioritising your company’s online reputation and driving the conversation around your customer relationships.
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