Reputation is crucial to the survival of a business. It can help break or boost a company. And, in the era of social media, the reputation of a business can instantly be built or destroyed by reviews and comments online.
Your target audience will first look at the reviews before deciding whether or not they want to engage with your brand. Because it’s easier now to get information online, consumers are more conscious to which businesses to which they should spend their hard-earned dollars. And, what reputation management does is make sure it’s your business they give it to.
What Is Reputation Management?
It doesn’t matter whether your business is doing great or you’re in the middle of a PR crisis, your business needs reputation management.
Online reputation management (ORM) involves strategically resolving negative feedback and comments in a professional manner. ORM searches for comments and reviews that affect your reputation across social media channels, online directories, and search engines. This process allows you to gauge how customers perceive or interact with your brand, which then gives you the opportunity to make adjustments in your products and services.
But, while quickly identifying and addressing negative feedback is a big part of ORM, so is highlighting positive customer feedback. Reposting or giving a mention to customers who had a positive experience with your brand helps in the community building efforts of your business.
In line with this, here are more reasons why online reputation management is a must for your business:
Better Search Engine Ranking
Having a lot of positive online reviews signals consumers that your business is good and reliable. These favourable online reviews also help in building a good brand reputation for your business, which, in turn, makes more people search for your business and its offerings.
An increase in search also means better SEO rankings for your business, making it more visible to more consumers who want to try your products and services.
Increased Customer Trust And Credibility
Online reviews are not just about technical specifics and pleasing Google’s algorithm. These are also about the trust and cooperation that must be nurtured with your consumers.
For most people, scoring the best deal means dealing with a business with the best rankings online at the very least. People also look at other people’s comments on businesses to help them decide whether or not they will be doing business with these companies or not. People can now have access to information easily, and they can establish a business’ reputation with just a single touch of a button.
When a customer or client sees that your business has a good online reputation, it’s most likely that they’ll interact with your brand.
As you can see, having a good online reputation management strategy in place already gives you an edge over your competition. Consumers who had a positive experience with your brand are also more likely to recommend it to others online. Also, when clients trust your brand, you are guaranteed more consumers and, eventually, sales.
Higher Profits
People want to do business with a company or brand that’s reliable. And, more often, it doesn’t matter if they pay extra as long as they’re certain that your business can be trusted.
In fact, a study by Harvard Business School has found out that even after adding just one star to your Yelp rating, it still leads to your business achieving a five to nine percent revenue boost! This shows that consumers trust positive ratings and reviews that they use these factors as their basis on deciding whether or not they’ll buy your products or avail of your services.
A More Professional Image
Having a professional image is important for any business. A professional image is a great marketing tactic that can help boost a business’ trust rankings not only with clients but also with potential investors.
A business that wants to deliver has to show its potential by having a professional image. When clients and investors see that a business is getting good reviews and has a good reputation, they will come to regard it as professional and trustworthy.
Managing your online reputation alone can help you boost your business, and even expand it by sending the message that you can satisfy clients and that your products and services are high quality and deliver on their promises.
Better Customer Service
Customer service is essential in any business. It is of the essence to always know the pulse of your customers so you can adjust your products and services accordingly. You cannot just conduct business without knowing the taste and preferences of your clients. You have to know what works for them and what doesn’t.
When you take your reputation management seriously, you will be able to know what your customers think of your business. If there are any complaints on social media or websites, you will be able to address them immediately.
Any negative feedback should be taken care of in a satisfactory manner, so your negative reputation won’t linger online. Knowing what your customer wants also helps you to craft better products and services that will translate to better customer participation and reviews, thereby generating more sales and profits.
Better Recruits
If you have a good online reputation, you will be able to attract better talents. Job seekers normally look for companies with a good reputation, which will help build their career. They want a company that is always striving to evolve and make better products and services by addressing issues with customers.
Better recruits and better talents translate to better functioning of the business. These people will become dedicated and loyal to their jobs if they know that the company they are working for has a tremendous reputation. Furthermore, a good reputation also means you will have better chances of retaining talents, and you will experience fewer turnovers.
Final Thoughts
Reputation management is highly crucial for the success of any business. The world is more information-driven, and clients and customers do their research first before conducting business.
Most online reviews and comments are based on real experiences, and these are considered by many as trustworthy and reliable. Thus, you have to take care of your reputation before any negative feedback or comment gets blown out of proportion.