It seems like just yesterday that public relations (PR) and reputation management only mattered to huge global brands and celebrities known all over the world. Before the days of Amazon and major online retailers, marketing relied on word-of-mouth, shopping was heavily localized, and commerce was small-scale. Smaller brands could more easily recover from instances of low customer satisfaction because there was much less competition, and consumers didn’t have the online resources and retailers available now.
Before eCommerce, if a local grocery store wasn’t supplying fresh produce, for example, consumers couldn’t simply order their groceries online from another location. The local options were (more or less) the only options, regardless of reputation.
But with eCommerce now often the preferred way to purchase anything and everything, reputation matters much more. Negative testimonials and poor customer reviews circulate quickly in the online space. Just a few one-star experiences can really hurt a brand’s return, driving away potential customers, as this information is available to all online users.
Sometimes, poor reviews are the first thing potential customers see when searching for your brand online. Talk about a bad first impression!
Negative reviews spread like wildfire, jumping from one platform to another and ruining a brand’s reputation across a variety of channels. In fact, did you know that 95% of users start their customer journeys using at least one of the three following channels: internet searches via search engines, searches on retailers’ sites, or social media? Appearing to potential customers as untrustworthy or disreputable on any of these platforms can seriously damage your business opportunities. This is why online reputation management (ORM) is vital for organizations of all sizes and in all industries.
From the brand experts at Zero Gravity Marketing, here are our tips for managing your brand’s reputation online to protect your business.
What Is PR and Brand Reputation Management?
Let’s start with the basics; brand management is a multi-faceted approach that aims at curating a positive perception of your company, as well as its products and services. The process includes monitoring your brand’s reputation and engaging with customers to gather feedback and address any issues consumers express online that could otherwise damage future customers’ perceptions of your company. When you empower your company with brand management, you’re utilizing strategies to prevent issues and solve problems that could negatively impact how people see your brand.
Why Is It Important for Brands to Manage Their Online Reputation?
The evolution of the internet over the past 10 years has created a connected, digital community. Since people can now easily access search engines and social media, businesses have been forced to adapt how they market their brands across the entire internet.
While it would be more than ideal to address all of your consumers’ questions, concerns, needs, and feedback, that isn’t really realistic for many brands. Things happen from time to time. Maybe a product sold has an imperfection, an employee doesn’t respond appropriately, or you’re on the receiving end of a negative Tweet or Facebook post. While it’s true that unexpected things can happen, it’s vital not to ignore these scenarios when they arise.
So how do you address these issues that are hurting your brand’s reputation? Here are a few ways a great ORM system can benefit your brand.
Impact Buying Decisions
Managing your online reputation (or the lack thereof) can influence consumers’ buying decisions significantly. In today’s highly competitive environment, consumers can and will choose who they purchase with based on their perceptions of an organization.
Build Trust and Credibility
Your business will inevitably face a negative review or comment now and then. If you ignore the situation, however, you can suffer more severe and lasting results. That’s why it’s crucial to take accountability and quickly address negative feedback. This will make it easier to rebuild trust and restore confidence in your brand.
Gather Valuable Feedback
When you monitor reviews and social media comments, you can garner valuable insights into how people feel about your products and services. In doing so, you have the opportunity to refine your business for the most common complaints, showing your consumers their opinions matter and you’re willing to adapt. This helps you to build brand loyalty.
How to Manage Your Online Reputation
Perform an Audit of Your Online Reputation
Before you can dive in and just start making changes, you need a basic understanding of what kinds of issues you’re facing and how consumers perceive your brand.
Develop a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Reputation Management Strategy
When people search for your brand online, they’re likely to form their first impressions based on what pops up first on the search engine results pages (SERPs). When you develop a lasting, effective SEO reputation management strategy that utilizes keywords and useful content, you’ll help establish a more solid brand image and drive traffic to your site’s pages.
Take Action Based on Comments, Feedback, and Reviews
It’s important to understand how customers view your brand, as this is an invaluable tool for improvement and innovation. Consumer criticism and pain points will give you guidance on where you need to focus more attention. Positive feedback lets you know you’re doing something right and should continue on that path.
Monitor Brand Mentions
Set up alerts for your brand name and any associated keywords so you can monitor when users mention your business on social media and forums and in blogs or videos. This will allow you to quickly react to any mentions of your brand, whether they are positive or negative.
The quicker you identify and deal with negative mentions, the better. Generally speaking, people will forgive an honest mistake if you make a good-faith effort to remedy the situation.
Ask for Google and Yelp Reviews
Online review sites are powerful and can help you attract customers early in the buying cycle. If your customers are happy, ask them to leave a review to express their contentment with your company. If you have a large customer base, you can easily curate an email marketing campaign to invite customers to leave reviews.
Employ a Crisis Management Strategy
Although you can’t anticipate a crisis (and hopefully never have to experience one), you should still be prepared. A crisis management strategy will allow you to put things in place quickly if things begin to escalate online rapidly.
Create High-Quality, On-Brand Content
The quality of your content drives SEO by helping to push your site to the top of the SERPs. It can help filter out negative perceptions while simultaneously showcasing your best qualities. After all, you’re trying to find customers who enjoy your brand’s voice and tone, so make sure those are consistent across all social media channels, as well as on your website.
Leverage Public Relations
A solid PR strategy can help you improve your digital reputation by generating positive press for your business. This can come in the form of:
- Guest posts on authoritative sites
- Interviews with company leaders
- Press releases
- Events sponsored by your brand
- Charitable events
- Co-marketing with other well-respected people or companies in your industry
- Podcast appearances
- “Ask-us-anything” videos and chat sessions
Respond Promptly
Whether the feedback is positive or negative, you don’t want to leave anything hanging out in cyberspace without a response. Consumers expect you to respond to them, and potential customers are paying attention to your actions concerning reviews. Even if you can’t solve their problems immediately, you need to at least acknowledge reviewers’ pain points and let them know you’re working on a solution. This helps to cultivate long-lasting relationships with your audience.
Be Transparent
Transparency builds trust. Remember: Nothing ever actually leaves the internet, even if you delete it. So if you say something disagreeable and try to cover up the truth, you’re asking for serious backlash. Avoid this by admitting any mistakes you make. If you get complaints online, don’t delete or hide them. Instead, address them. Future customers are watching to see how you’ll react.
Build Your Brand’s Reputation with Zero Gravity Marketing
At ZGM, it’s our priority to see your business succeed, and managing your reputation is a great place to start. If you need support developing a brand management strategy, reach out to us and let our expert team take your business to the next level.
