Online Reputation Management is Critical to Your Company’s Success
When you Google your company’s name, what comes up?
Brand reputation is important to consumers when they are deciding where to spend their money, so you can’t afford to miss the opportunity to spread the word when somebody sings your business praises. Often even more important, you can’t miss the customer service opportunity to respond to less favourable comments.
Being aware of what’s being said about your business online is clearly important to the success of your company. You need to conduct ongoing brand management to ensure your company is known for the great products and services you provide.
A Real Life Lesson in Brand Management
Dominos Pizza had a negative YouTube video show up #4 on Google, showing staff sabotaging customer’s pizzas. The bad press has such an extreme impact that the particular location had to close because their business was affected so much.
What will someone find about your company when they Google your name with the word “reviews”?
Become Known as the Expert of your Industry
Your online reputation is not just about what others are saying about your products and services. It’s also about the content that you create online, including knowledge of your industry and other subjects that are relevant and useful to your target market.
When you consistently produce written and visual content that engage and interest your target market, without constantly pitching a sale, you elevate your reputation as the industry expert, and people will naturally gravitate towards doing business with you.
Techniques for Online Brand Management
Manage your reputation and monitor your online brand by:
- Listening to what people are saying about you online
- Responding appropriately
- Creating and sharing content that is interesting and useful to your customers
Like it or not, people are going to talk. Know what people are saying about you:
- People are now on Facebook more than Google
- People have mobile devices with them 24/7 which means they are talking quickly and from everywhere
- Mobile devices allow people 24/7 access to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs
You have two choices:
- Allow people to talk behind your back and not know about it
- Know what people are saying so you can respond quickly and appropriately
How do you respond if people are saying positive things?
- Spread the word – share it on your social networks
- Do not be overtly sales oriented
- Be humble
How do you respond if people are saying negative things?
- Respond appropriately to address people’s concerns
- Attempt to satisfy your unhappy customer
- You can’t get rid of the negative comments, but you can show others your exceptional customer service
Set Up an Online Brand Monitoring System
Your online brand monitoring system can be as simple as a free Google alerts or something more sophisticated where you pay a monthly fee for a more complicated monitoring system.
WSI Milton can help you figure out what is best for your business. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation.
The Importance of Reviews
Did you know:
Reviews get 20-87% more customers for your website- You can expect a 22% increase in leads with reviews vs. testimonials
- Positive reviews outnumber negative 7:1
- Average rating of all things online is 4.3 stars out of 5
- Negative reviews increase credibility by
5-Star Review is a great tool to manage customer feedback and add credibility to your company. Follow the “Read Client Reviews” icon featured on every page on this website to see how these reviews work.
Contact WSI Milton for a complimentary consultation or for more information about developing online reputation management strategies attend one of our free seminars.
