Maintaining your online reputation is vital to business growth and development. With so many places to post reviews, it can be challenging to stay on top of all of them. Should you follow up on each review? How do you respond to a bad review? Understanding how to manage reviews will help to strengthen your online reputation. Fortunately, there are several tools available to aid in building your reputation, while simplifying the entire process.
Over the last decade, the Internet has seen tremendous growth. Online reviews are one of the areas that exploded, forcing companies to have more interaction with customers on their websites and social media platforms. No matter what industry you are in or how large or small your business is reviews matter.
What is Reputation Management?
Online reputation management tools are one of the easiest ways to keep tabs on what your customers are saying about your business, your employees, and the overall image of the company. In today’s virtual world, it is imperative to understand this information to help create quality products, provide better customer service, and enhance your company’s reputation.
Internet marketers and Google researchers often state that companies need to “be transparent” with their audience. What exactly does this mean, and how can you achieve transparency? Being transparent means the business must be able to have personal conversations with customers. You need to let the customers know you DO care about their opinion, and you want to receive criticism. Being open and honest with customers will fuel a stronger relationship with them, which ultimately builds your reputation.
The Difficulty of Responding to Reviews
One of the biggest issues businesses face is learning how to create the right voice for their brand. What happens if you do get a one-star review? Being able to emotionally remove yourself from the position of defending your entire life’s work can be hard. This is why many companies find outsourcing reputation management to be the most beneficial option. Performance Driven Marketing works closely with our clients to understand the foundation of your business, and our writing team helps to clearly communicate your voice to the public. If a bad review does come in, we have the tools, experience, and writing team ready to professionally respond. Here are some things to consider when you are looking at your online reputation:
- Am I going to be angry if I do get too many negative reviews or criticism from the customers?
- Do my employees properly represent the business and the brand?
- Do we have an internal team to help manage social media and online reputation?
- Are my competitors taking advantage of our weaknesses?
Let’s take a look at an example of a bad review:
The way a business reacts and responds to the review will say a lot about your level of professionalism, care for your customers, and the overall brand image you want to maintain. Sometimes there are cases where a reaction is not needed. Taking a proactive approach to your reputation will increase online visibility and strengthen customer relationships.
3-Step Approach to Responding to Negative Reviews
To make it easy to repair those bad reviews, use our simple 3-step approach:
- Thank the reviewer, even if it is a negative review
- Acknowledge the concern the reviewer has left
- Invite the reviewer back so you can show them how you have fixed the issue they had
Everyone does have the right to express their voice and their opinion. Tracking these mentions of your company whether it is part of a social media post, or an actual review will determine the brand image of your business online. If you find yourself frustrated by poor reviews, and you know you are losing customers because of it, there are some steps you can take to start rebuilding your online reputation:
- Focus on strengthening your brand with positive online content
- Report reviews that are in violation of the platform rules (normally profanity-laced reviews are removed as well as those are geared towards trying to damage a business instead of offering actual feedback)
- Ask satisfied customers to leave feedback
- React quickly when someone does mention your brand online
- Address criticism publicly
Fresh reviews are always helpful for your online reputation, and they are validated by new shoppers. Working with a quality reputation management program can make it easier to ask your satisfied customers if they would mind taking a moment to rate your business. Ask for help when you know you are ready for it! Our professional online reputation management team is here to provide you with the support, training, and experience needed to ensure your brand is protected from the spammers and frustrated customers that could be your downfall. Contact our Ogden marketing company today for more information!
