More consumers than ever look at the reviews and reputation of a business or product to help them make major buying decisions. If your target customers search for popular keywords around your product or service, will you come up? And if you do, will it be positive?
Here are some potential scenarios:
• Searchers might find little to no information about your business reputation, in which case they may either rely on your sales writing skills and guarantee(s) listed on your website, or they may keep on searching to find someone else offering what you’ve got, but with a reputation that fosters buying confidence.
• People might find you have a great reputation with reviews, established online listings that lend credibility to your claims.
• They also might find negative feedback from past customers.
Ignoring your online reputation could hurt your business. However, it’s not just the bad reviews you shouldn’t ignore; it’s also the good ones. In addition to monitoring your reputation, it’s wise to act on it.
Use Good And Bad Reviews To Your Advantage
You can use good reviews to showcase your abilities and instill confidence. You can use bad reviews to learn where to improve, and to show anyone following you online that your company cares about customer service and satisfaction. How? Act on negativity in a productive way, wherever possible.
Make The Most Of A Good Reputation
When you get good feedback posted publicly, acknowledge it and show your appreciation. Not only might you get a chance to thank the person who left the positive feedback, but you’ll often draw attention to it with your reply, which can help get more eyes on the positivity.
Tip: Don’t be afraid to ask for reviews and feedback. Many companies list review requests on invoices and email communications and post positive reviews on a section of their website. Some will allow others to post a review directly on their site. Some companies even go as far as to offer incentives in exchange for feedback.
Do Damage Control For Bad Reviews, Low Stars And Online Complaints
Where possible, respond to negative reviews offering to make it right. Transparency can foster trust with your customers. Respond to public social media comments in a helpful way that strives to take them private. If you can, take the conversation private so there’s an opportunity to fix problems without a public eye on the particulars.
Example: “We’re sorry you’re not happy. Please PM us or call this number ***-***-**** so we can make things right.”
Use SEO And Reputation Management To Position Yourself As An Industry Expert
Search engine optimization works well in conjunction with reputation management by showcasing your product or service when people search for reviews. While ongoing SEO could help bury the occasional negative review in search engines, you can’t necessarily get rid of it.
Yes, leveraging inbound marketing techniques can help you showcase the positives, but be aware that negativity is just about impossible to completely hide.
The good news is consumers are more forgiving if they see you trying to right a wrong and will often overlook a few negative reviews if the vast majority of what is being said about you is positive.
No matter what, you can’t ignore your online reputation, and if you don’t have time to manage it, it’s advantageous to get some help, either through a new hire or via reputation management services.
How To Leverage A Great Online Reputation
Draw attention to good feedback and reviews. How?
• Quote or link to positive reviews in sales copy.
• Retweet or share good feedback when it’s posted in public forums online.
• Encourage reviews from customers.
• Add a “testimonials” section to your website and optimize it for searchers looking for product reviews. (Avoid the urge to post fake reviews. Wherever there is concrete back-up to your statements, this lends credibility and helps with your online reputation.)
Tips For Monitoring Your Online Reputation
• Set up a Google Alert with your company and brand names. You’ll get emails when something new with those keywords is indexed by Google, giving you an opportunity to look at it and, if necessary, take action on it.
• Regularly monitor your brand name on social media by searching hashtags and reviewing content.
• Claim your business listings wherever possible on review sites and directories so that you’ll have an opportunity to see what’s being said and/or take action.
• Make reputation management a part of your ongoing internet marketing efforts, either by carving out time in your schedule regularly for it, hiring someone who becomes responsible for it, or outsourcing reputation management to a company that specializes in it.
In today’s digital world, your online reputation can make or break your business. However, while most companies today know that they should prioritize digital marketing, many are still neglecting their online reputation. Don’t leave your reputation up to chance; instead, make sure you are actively monitoring and managing your reviews, mentions, search results and all other facets of your online reputation.
