Managing Your Brand Reputation Online
Monitoring your brand across all sites isn’t enough for online reputation management. It entails responding to unfavourable reviews, encouraging positive ones, and devising a strategy to deal with both.
Your brand’s reputation can have more impact than your Google reviews. There are a lot of misconceptions regarding how to control your online reputation. Some feel it is simply social media monitoring, while others believe it is related to public relations. Others have no idea how it will affect their business or sales.
We will go over some of the most effective online reputation management methods in this article to help you build and protect your business online.
Your brand’s reputation can have more impact than your Google reviews.
Never dismiss a negative review.
As an entrepreneur, you should mitigate the impact of a negative review by responding quickly and professionally, and thanking the customer for bringing the issue to your attention. Explain to the client how you intend to solve the situation if possible. If you are able to manage an unfavourable review, you stand a better chance of improving your brand’s image. To demonstrate your abilities and instil confidence in others, you can use positive feedback. Negative reviews can highlight areas for development and show everyone who follows you on social media that your company prioritizes customer service and satisfaction. How? Use negativity to your advantage whenever possible.
On the other hand, when you receive positive feedback that has been made public, acknowledge it and express your gratitude. You will have the opportunity to thank the individual who provided excellent feedback. Still, you will also bring attention to it with your response, which will help draw more attention to the favourable feedback.
Create a position for an online brand manager.
People dislike being ignored. If your customers believe you are giving them the cold shoulder online, they are likely to treat your company the same way. As a result, appointing an online brand manager to reply to every customer review received is one of the best things you can do to manage your online reputation. While this may appear to be a time-consuming chore, it is worth it when you think of the excellent publicity it will bring your company.
Your online brand manager would regularly keep an eye on the major review sites and other platforms. Every workday, your company’s social media profiles, and the most active review sites should be checked by the Online Brand Manager. Set up Google alerts to notify you when someone blogs about your brand.
Do not engage in an online debate.
It makes no difference who is correct or who began the argument; online mudslinging is always unprofessional. If you allow yourself to be emotionally affected by criticism, you may say or do anything that tarnishes your reputation.
It is easy to get drawn into an argument, but in the end, you could lose out if you come across as petty, rude, or unprofessional, even if you’re technically correct. You should only respond to each negative reviewer once or twice and invite them to contact you by phone or email. Do not engage in a debate with your critics, no matter how right you are; it could cause your brand to lose value.
If you allow yourself to be emotionally affected by criticism, you may say or do anything that tarnishes your reputation.
Report Abusive Reviews
Review sites have terms of service, which reviewers sometimes break. Using the platform’s reporting process may afford you the opportunity to remove harsh reviews. However, this does not rule out the possibility that the information in these reviews is useful.
Reply Quickly and Courteously
Forty per cent of online reviewers want a response as soon as feasible. You may attempt something like this:
“Thank you for your feedback. We are looking into it and will provide an update by tomorrow. If you need additional information, kindly get in touch with us and you would be assisted immediately”
In the event of a consumer complaint via Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media channel, you can state,
“We are aware of the issue and we are working to resolve it. We will contact you as soon as possible. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Be Transparent
Businesses with the best brand reputations are open and honest about their underlying values and effectively convey the “why” behind their actions.
The objective is to provide a clear image of your values for others to see. These can include the objectives you set for yourself, the culture you cultivate, the level of service you deliver, and the individuals who make up your team. Your company becomes more human and likeable when people understand your vision and mission.
People want to trust you. Do not misrepresent yourself, your brand, what you have done, or what your company has accomplished. People are more inclined to dig up bad or dated content if they can’t find transparency in your dealings. According to a recent survey, 56 per cent of consumers claimed that if they are given clear and open information, they are more likely to remain loyal for life.
Conclusions
Managing your brand’s online reputation is not as simple as it may appear. Your reputation is based on what your consumers are saying about you rather than on who you are. While SEO aids in site optimization, online reputation management (ORM) allows you to increase your brand’s online presence.
Small businesses are considerably more vulnerable to internet reputation attacks than larger corporations because they lack larger corporations’ financial resources and expertise. When it comes to online reputation management, being proactive is the greatest approach to safeguarding oneself against negative words and the financial loss that often follows.
Your reputation is based on what your consumers are saying about you rather than on who you are.
It’s never too early to begin working on an online reputation management strategy for your company.
If you need help DBO Agency is always here. Send us a message on any of our social media platforms or book a session with us here and our team will get back to you.
Cheers!
