What is online reputation management and development?
Online Reputation Management & Development
“85% of Consumers Trust Online Reviews as Much as Personal Recommendations.”
Source: Bright Local 2017
Nowadays, many businesses Online reputation management and development is the control over the reputation of an individual, companies, brand name. This is related to the Internet, social media, online services and reviews, and the global marketplace. Online reputation management is primarily focused around how people search and find you, the ranking you have online, and what impression you make on the marketplace.
Nowadays, many businesses do not fully understand how poor reputation management and development can destroy their company’s growth and sales. Look at what happened to Citibank in 2012. Following its near destruction at the height of the financial crisis, Citi’s brand value has declined 38%. SeaWorld’s public image was tarnished when CNN’s “Blackfish” documentary brought to light less-than-ideal habitats for its famous Orca whales. The company’s stock nosedived and came down 33%.
Reputation Matters
Whether you like or not, your reputation matters. Crafting a consistent story around your brand, your business practices and staying true to your vision are some of the more important elements to maintaining a cohesive message across multiple media platforms for a strong reputation. It has an enormous impact on the company’s revenue and success. If your company lacks proper online reputation strategies to manage perceptions of the people as new information comes out, the chances of losing a lot of money and prestige are high.
Many business owners are often surprised by what others say about their business. Most don’t even realize they need to take a proactive vs. a reactive approach to get ahead of a crisis and predict behavior. It is crucial, because it can make or break the long-term success of your business. One comment on poor customer experience, a dishonest review, or something similar can cause a business to lose hundreds of customers and dollars.
This goal is to give businesses a fighting chance during a crisis to earn back the trust existing business, as well as cultivate new business.
Strategies for Success
Implement Reputation Management & Development Strategies
The key for businesses and brands today, is to implement reputation management and development strategies. The best way is to hire professional consultants who are skilled at understanding the customer experience in collaborative and innovative ways. Reputation management strategies could be managing and responding to review websites, creating and managing social platforms to engage positively with the audience, or ways to clear their name from any unfavorable comments that may exist online. Many businesses hire specialized consultants and marketing companies to do this work for them. This partnership is what helps make brands stand out, and provides them with various ways to meet their business objectives in favorable ways.
Leverage Reputation Management Software
Another option is to leverage reputation management software tools. This can be more efficient for businesses if they don’t have the budget to hire a professional. Most of the time, the software takes the brunt of the work. Reputation management software is a constant scrape of the Internet, combing for information about the business to quickly resolve any problems. The software can help with damage control, and responding to reviews. No matter the sizes of your business, whether it is a startup company or a Fortune company, you need to put your online reputation first and make it a priority. Engaging in online reputation management and development services can help your company tremendously.
Online Reputation Management Business Benefits
- Gives businesses awareness and identifies your opportunities.
- Helps you earn your customer trust.
- Assists you to resolve customer complaints quickly.
- Shows customers that you care about the customer experience
- Increases the transparency of your business.
- Helps your business regarding online endorsement.
- Helps businesses address negative reviews
- Lets you expand your online presence across many platforms and communities.
Importance of Reviews
A negative review could be the biggest problem affecting your company’s ability to grow and attract new customers. When a customer does research about your company, and they find negative reviews, this can have an impact on the perception they have of your company.
The main reason companies focus on online reputation management and development, is because it makes them remain competitive in the online marketplace. This involves monitoring what others say about your brand. This could be on social media and other online outlets or within various review sites. Taking positive actions to improve customer perceptions is essential. Business Consulting and Marketing Companies help brands expand their online presence. They manage their online reputations with inexpensive and effective reputation management services.
A startup business might think they do not need online reputation management and development. This would have been true a decade ago, but not anymore. With the excitement over social and online communities, there are unlimited ways to provide feedback.
Final Thoughts
Because your online reputation is how others see you when they look for you online, it is even more important to take control of the online conversation. Online reputation management techniques and strategies ensure that people find the right information when they look for you. Done right, online reputation management creates positive and lasting impressions, prevents misleading trends, and gives you the opportunity to shine and tell the right story – your story. It’s about time to put your best foot forward.