Online reputation management for your business used to be a luxury, but not anymore. Because potential customers are increasingly influenced by online reviews, social media, and what they find in Google search, your online presence is the never-ending story of your business online. In this blog, we’ll take you through what it means to have and cultivate a healthy online reputation, and advise on what you should do when faced with negative feedback or PR nightmares. By the end, you’ll have a model to protect and enhance one of your business’s most valuable yet amorphous, intangible assets.
Taking Stock of Your Online Reputation Right Now
Before you can build upon your online reputation, it helps to know where you’re at. Here’s how to conduct an online audit:
Step 1: Do a Google Search
Begin by searching for your business name on Google. It’s pretty simple: Just take a look at the first few pages of results and see what customers, press, or review sites are saying about you. Notice the incorrect information and inaccuracies.
Step 2: Review the Review Sites
Consider industry relevant platforms like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, Trustpilot or perhaps niche platforms. What is the general mood in most of the reviews? Do you discern any patterns or themes or criticisms?
Step 3: Analyze Social Media
Audit your brand’s presence in public discussions on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Search with platform functions or hashtags for brand mentions and the sentiment around them.
Step 4: Know All About Employee-Review Websites
Glassdoor and Indeed are important for knowing how your company is viewed by your employees. Your brand’s reputation depends on employee reviews now more than ever.
This audit will give you a sense of your existing online reputation and help pinpoint where you need to work on improving or take better advantage of your virtual appearance.
Keeping An Eye On What People Say About You Online
Regular monitoring is essential to avoid surprises. Tools and methods will ensure you know what’s being said about your company online.
Mention and Review Tracking Tools
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Google Alerts (free): Receive alerts when your business name is ever mentioned online.
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IOOtsuite and Sprout Social (paid): Listen to the keywords, track social mentions and operate engagement across various platforms.
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ReviewTrackers (paid): Simplify customer review management with the ability to monitor reviews across multiple sites in one location.
Encourage Regular Checks
Develop a regular process for reviewing comments, reviews and mentions in social media and on your website on a weekly basis. This way, messages and feedback is responded to faster.
With your online reputation, knowing is half the battle.
Tactics for Being Awesome Online And Off
You earn a good reputation, it isn’t just given to you. Below are tactics that have been tried and tested to help you create upbeat content and engagement:
Engage with Positive Feedback
Thank happy customers and give them public thanks for their positive reviews. It shows your customer base that your appreciate them, they are rewarded for their loyalty, and new customers see that your business appreciates its customers.
Encourage Customer Reviews
Get happy customers to post reviews. For instance, add calls-to-action to follow-up emails or after sale. Encourage reviews by offering discounts or loyalty points, but make sure the reviews are authentic.
Use User-Generated Content to Your Advantage
If you are having customers take pictures and posting them for others to see, use your branded hashtag on the photos. Cross-promote their (permission-based) content on your social media to foster engagement.
Create a Robust Content Strategy
That means creating useful content that’s shareable and in line with both what you do and what your audience is interested in. That might include blog posts or infographics or videos demonstrating expertise.
Partner With Influencers
This means working with the influencers that share the same values as your brand to make sure you are getting the most reach and credibility.
The positive content and relationships that you build will eventually override any negative stories about your brand.
As to Negative Feedback
No one can hide from negative business reviews or comments. It’s how you deal with them that counts.
Acknowledge the Issue
First off, apologize—privately or publicly—for the customer’s disappointment. Instead, write something that acknowledges the action, such as:
“We’re sorry you had this experience” or “Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
Offer Solutions
Offer a solution to the problem where possible. That might mean a refund or a replacement, or a follow-up conversation to further investigate the complaint.
Take the Discussion Offline
In cases of very sensitive stuff, take the conversation into IM or email. This enable it to have more in-depth conversations outside of the public eye.
Remain Professional
Do not be defensive or dismissive in your responses. Your response is as much for the angry customer as for anyone else, including prospective customers who want to see how you respond to criticism.
Handled properly, negative feedback can be converted into a loyal advocate who is even more satisfied with his or her experience.
Crisis Management
A PR disaster, much like an extremely negative or viral criticism campaign, can wreak havoc on your reputation if not handled properly. Here are steps to take:
Act Quickly
So, what do you do? Well, you talk about it before it gets worse. Have a press release as soon as possible, explaining what your position is and what you are doing to fix the problem.
Be Transparent
Tell the truth, even if your business is to blame. Transparency fosters trust with your audience.
Lean on a Crisis Management Team
Before a brand statement is released, I’ll ask myself,
“What if this backfires?”
Depending on the subject matter, I may involve others — a crisis management team who thinks through “what if” scenarios.
Use experienced professionals if you can to develop a strategy. If not, you may need to go to a PR expert, to guide your crisis management.
Stay Consistent in Messaging
Have everyone on the same page what the business’s talking points are. Open lines of dialogue leave less room for misunderstanding.
Learn From the Crisis
Once you can sort out the dust, determine what happened and what could have been done to avoid it. Put those findings to work to protect us from future crises.
How to Preserve Your Reputation Online
Online reputation management is not something that comes to an end; it is a lifelong process. Here are long-term approaches to building a strong online presence:
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Keep Updating Business Information
Update your website, Google My Business and social channels with the most current and accurate information. -
Educate Employees
Educate your staff on the significance of online reputation and deliver first-class customer service at every customer interaction. -
Invest in SEO
Maximize your site’s search ranking by integrating relevant content into it. A good SEO strategy allows you to shape the story about your brand. -
Conduct Annual Audits
And make a resolution to check back on how you are presenting yourself to the world online every year. Look for out-of-date information, negative reviews or changing sentiment trends.
Committing to managing it well on an ongoing basis will prevent it from taking on a life of its own, and having a strong online business reputation.
Proactive Advocate to Online Reputation Management
You also have a reputation online that is an asset to your business that you should protect. Just as scheduled maintenance and everyday quality checks are part and parcel of our everyday experiences, scheduled communication is a daily invitation from and to your own audience to promote messages that are positive and timely while also reminding viewers you’re eager to receive and respond to their feedback, both good and bad.
The ultimate takeaway? It is not easy to manage reputation, it takes time, but in the long run you will have the fruits of trust, integration and credit.
If managing your online reputation seems like a daunting task, you might want to consider hiring the professional expertise of someone who can walk you through the process.
