ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
C y b e r r o o t R i s k A d v i s o r y ( C R G r o u p )
IfyouarehavingonlineB2Cbusinesses,thenyourwebsiteis youronlycustomertouchpoints.Insuchcase,youmusthavea reviewsectionopeninthewebsiteaswell.Now,onedayyou seeabadcommentorreviewonyourwebsite.Well,itcan seriouslyimpactyourB2Cbusiness.Customersgenerallyfollow reviewsandcommentsofthepreviousbuyerstocontinuetheir buyingandthat’swhyonlinereputationmanagementis necessary.
Onlinereputationmanagementhelpsyoutomaintainthe brandimagetothecustomersoutthere.Duetoimmense expansionofdigitalization,itisnowveryeasytospoilabrand’s reputationonline.Anythingnowadayscangoviral,thanksto theonlineplatform.So,whatcanyoudotominimizethe impact?Let’sfindoutthedetailsoftheonlinemanagement strategiesandhowyoucanimplementthesameinyour business.So,let’sdivein.
WHAT IS
ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT?
Onlinereputationmanagement(ORM)istheprocessofactively trackingmentionsofyourbusinessonwebsitesandsocial mediainordertorespondtoanyuntrueorunfavorable
remarks.ORMprimarilyfunctionsbyrespondingtounfavorable onlinecustomerreviewsandarticlesinthemedia(both conventionalandsocial)thatcastapoorlightonyour business.Asanillustration,youmayrespondtothestory's substancewithapublicremarkorasocialmediapost.
WHY DO YOU NEED TO HAVE ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES?
Abrandmaysuffercountlessonlineblows,buttheyare frequentlylittleassaults—acriticalreviewhere,apoorstar ratingthere.Althoughnoneofthesesetbackswouldmerita comprehensivePReffort,theysoonaccumulate.Toputout eachoftheseminorflamesbeforetheycausemajorharm,you requireonlinereputationmanagement.Althoughwellplanned PReffortshavetheirrole,customersnowalsowantgenuine encounterswithbrands.
Byrespondingimmediatelytocomplaints,yourcompanymay battlethemusingonlinereputationmanagement.
5 ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES YOU CAN CHOOSE
Onlinereputationmanagementmightseemoverwhelming giventhevastnumberofsocialmediaandotherwebsites whereyourbusinessmaybediscussed.
Butdon'tworry,wecanassistyou.We'veputupfivesensible tacticstogetyoustartedcontrollingtheinternetreputationof yourcompany.
RESPOND QUICKLY AND EMPATHICALLY
ThefinestORMoccasionallyoccurspriortothepublicationofacriticalcommentor review.Customerswhomessageyoudirectlyorsubmitquestionsonsocialmedia shouldreceiveanimmediateresponse.
Don'twaittoolongtoreplytocommentsonsocialmediasince,accordingtoa Clutchpoll,83%ofpeopleanticipatethemwithinadayorless.Quickanswerslet customersknowyourespecttheirbusinessandstopangrypeoplefromleaving badreviews.Makesuretheclientunderstandsthatyoucareaboutfindinga solutiontotheirissueandthatyouareultimatelytheretoassist.
DEAL WITH CRITICISM RIGHT AWAY
Itmaybetemptingtoignorecriticalremarksandconsumerfeedback.Afterall, whywouldyouwanttomakearesponsethatwouldcallattentiontothem?
However,thefactisthatbyignoringdissatisfiedclients,you'rehurtingyour business.Themajority(97%)ofthe82%ofcustomerswhoreadonlinereviewsalso readthecompany'sanswers.Byrespondingtounfavorablecomments,youmay demonstratetoclientsthatyouwilltakecareoftheirconcernseveniftheyhavea problemwithyourbusiness.
Therefore,alwaysreplytoreviewsandremarksthatareunfavorablefrom customers.Dealwiththeirproblempatientlyandfirmly.
ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR ERRORS
Italwayshelpstoapologiseifyourbusinessisunderfireforatrueorimagined incident.Remorsehelpstocalmdifficultcustomersituationsandimproves consumerconnections.Additionally,itconveystocustomerstheintegrityand opennessofyourbusiness.Createyourapologywiththesincereaimtotake responsibilityforandaddresstheproblem.Discussyourplanstoaddressthe primaryissuesthatcustomersandthemediahavebroughtupindirectresponse.
Thinkaboutyourapology'smediaaswell.Thebestplacetosubmityourcomment wouldbeonsocialmedia,forinstance,ifthatiswherethemajorityofthebad criticismiscomingfrom.Empathicresponseisalsocrucial.
MONITOR YOUR SEARCH RESULTS FREQUENTLY
SEOistypicallythoughtofbymarketersasastrategytomaintainbrandvisibility. However,it'salsoacrucialtoolforreducingtheexposureofinformationand unfavourablenewsconnectedtoyourbusiness.
Whensomeonesearchesforyourcompanyname,youwantyourfirm'spageto comeuptop.Customersaretentimesmorelikelytoclickonthefirstsearchresult thanoneonapage10spacesdown,andthefirstresultonSERPsreceivesmore than31%ofallclicks.Toviewwhatpeopleseewhentheysearchforyourbrand, monitortheresultsinaprivatewindow.Youmightneedtobidonyourown keywordstokeepthetoprankascompetitorscanbidonyourbrandedkeywords tohavetheircontentappearfirst.
AUTOMATE MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE REPUTATION
UsesoftwarethatautomatesORMoperationstosavetimerathertomanually browsingwebsitesandsocialmedia.
GoogleAlertsisoneoftheeasiestmonitoringtools.Enteryourbrandnameintothe tooltostartreceivingalertswhenarticlesinthemediaandnewsmentionyour business.Asaresult,youwillalwaysbeawarewhenyourbusinessisbeing discussedandyouwillalwaysbepreparedtoactpromptly.
Toreinforcethefavourableperceptionofyourbrandthatyouhaveworkedsohard tocreate,useonlinereputationmanagement.Yourorganisationwillappearmore approachabletopresentandfutureclientsifyourespondtotheirqueriesand unfavourablecomments.Youmayinfluencehowcustomersseeyourbusiness moreeffectivelybyputtingORMmethodsintopractise.
