Managing your online reputation is a complex and multi-dimensional task. It involves monitoring brand mentions across all digital channels, responding to negative feedback and actively promoting positive content.
A positive online reputation can lead to a number of benefits for your business. For example, you might attract better employees, increase revenue and improve customer loyalty. It can also improve your search engine rankings and make it easier for potential customers to find you.
It can also help you create a consistent, cohesive brand perception. That is, you can show that you are trustworthy and reliable by implementing a strategy for your entire brand, not just one area such as reviews or social media.
Reputation is a critical factor in today’s consumer decision making process. In fact, 81% of consumers say that trust is a key deciding factor in their purchasing decisions.
The most common and easiest way to monitor your online reputation is by using tools such as Google Alerts, which can be set up for a variety of keywords related to your company. This allows you to be notified as soon as new content appears on the internet, so you can catch and respond to negative reviews or engage with positive mentions of your brand.
In addition, you can use tools such as Awario, Mention, Meltwater and Brandwatch to monitor your reputation across multiple channels. These tools will provide you with a detailed report of mentions across the internet and enable you to identify specific mentions that are most relevant to your brand.
It is crucial to respond quickly to online comments and feedback, especially if it’s negative. This is because, if you don’t respond to negative comments and feedback, they may be passed on by other users and become public information.
A recent case of this happening to a clothing company called American Eagle is proof that not responding quickly to a customer’s question can result in negative public statements about the company.
To prevent this, it is essential to have a reputation management process in place that prioritizes responses to both negative and positive comments and feedback. Then, you can be sure that the most important messages receive the highest attention and will receive timely and appropriate responses.
Another way to prevent negative mentions from surfacing is by regularly checking your company’s social media accounts. You can do this on your own, but it is also a good idea to have a dedicated team who will do so on behalf of the company.
If you have a team of people who are responsible for social media, it is a good idea to set up an alerts system so that they will be notified when there are posts related to your brand. These can be in the form of comments, shares, reactions or even just a mention of your brand.
The most important thing to remember when managing your online reputation is that it is a dynamic, evolving situation. Every day, there are new posts and comments made about your brand on social media. This means that you will have to constantly review and respond to those comments. In addition, you will want to make sure that all of your social media platforms are up to date and that you are posting relevant and interesting content.