How you manage the online reputation of your business can be a game-changer for your company; it can either make you the king of the industry or bring you down in no time.

Let’s face it, it’s easier to build a reputation, but it takes a lot of commitment to maintain it in the long run. The review left behind by one angry customer can not only result in a loss of clients but can also be risky for your brand image.

With the increase of social media apps, the strategies of business marketing have changed as well. It’s better to adapt to changing landscape for business strategies than to stay in your comfort zone. Exposure to social media and other online platforms can give you an idea of what people think about your business.

It’s great to ensure luxurious and affordable services for your customers, but what good that’d be if customers came across that one bad and unaddressed feedback online. Let’s take a look at some trends for online reputation management that you must follow.

Don’t Mess With the Online Trolls

A troll could be an angry customer or an angry ex-employee too. The latter can do more harm to the reputation of your business than an unsatisfied customer.

Don’t make the mistake of engaging in such comments on social media. If it’s a customer who’s not satisfied with your services, either ignore it or reply politely. Being harsh to them can backfire!

Make Sure The Communications Skills Are On Point

Effective communication is the key to success. Try to address the concerns of your customers timely when they have any queries. If they’re not satisfied with the services, listen patiently and reassure them that you’ll improve the services. It’s essential to show that you’re willing to go the extra mile to provide them with the best services.

Take note of the feedback and reviews your customers leave online and use it as an agenda of discussion during the next board meeting.

Build Trust, Honesty, and Integrity

These three are vital elements that can help you gain a loyal clientele and build your reputation. Connect with your customers and your employees. Make sure you have clear-cut and explicitly mentioned policies. That’ll give the customers and your employees a better idea of your company’s values.

Imagine this scenario: you promise to give your employees a raise in their salaries on exceptional performances. They work tirelessly and, in the end, find out that the promises were nothing but a lie. This would demotivate them, and some may even stop putting in the extra effort for your business. Thus, make sure to keep up with your word.

Be a Leader!

Hiring SEO services can surely help you rank the business better on the internet but do you know what will help you sustain the rankings? Being a good leader. The CEO title ain’t enough! You need to take responsibility.

Your leadership skills can truly give a boost to reputation management services. Make sure that you take reviews, conduct meetings, and take feedback from the staff of all departments.

This will keep you stay in the loop, and it’ll also help assure your staff and customers that you’re emotionally and physically invested in ensuring that people see your business in a positive light.

Invest in Advertising

It can make all the difference to your brand image. A good, meaningful ad that connects with the audience can attract them to your business. Whereas, an ad that has a contradictory context can turn the tables for you.

Make sure that the marketing content you produce reflects on a social issue or grabs the viewership. Moreover, it should also cater to your target audience.

Bring in the Social Element

The best way to appeal to your audience is through an emotional aspect. Moreover, customers also prefer businesses that have a policy of giving back to society or keeping the SDGs or environmental protection in mind.

Once your business reaches the break-even point, work on developing the CSR policies. It’ll not only give a good name to your business but also help you gain more customers. Millennials are a large segment of this society, and they don’t like being associated with companies that don’t play their role in making the world a better place or conserving it for future generations.

For instance, the business model of TOMS ‘we donate a pair for each pair bought’ truly did wonders and helped the company gain a good reputation.

Partner with Other Brands

It’ll help your business make waves in the industry. More people will get to know about your business if you partner with a multi-national or a renowned company. Apart from getting fame, it will also help you build a loyal clientele.

With online start-ups and businesses, fraud and theft have increased too. Hence, parterning with a well-known brand will help the customers know that you run a genuine business, and they’d be more willing to take the risk.

Lastly, it can also give you exposure and have a great growth prospectus for your business. By teaming up with other companies and creating a partnership, you can learn from their skills.

Use Online Tools for Reputation Management Services

You can hire SEO services or use other online tools to maintain the brand image of your business. A  word over the internet spreads much faster! You wouldn’t want a hate comment left behind by a troll to be all over social media the next day.

Thus, there are various tools that you can use to keep track of feedback, reviews, and even trolls. It helps you get to know whenever someone mentions you on social media or has a discussion about your business.

These can also help you understand your target audience and potential customer base better by sharing the demographics. For instance, if you focused on a particular area only, the tools can help you detect if people in another city might be interested in your services too. This can help you work on your operational strategies.

Alt-Text: a business meeting in progress

Final Verdict!

You should surely invest in reputation management services if you want to safeguard the brand image of your business and increase sales and ROIs. Maintaining your brand name is the only way to make your business stand out in the highly competitive business world.

Remember the rule: prevention is better than cure. Stay updated with the reputation management trends as prevention to sustain the good name of your business. In the worst possible scenario, if you get a bad name, the cure almost seems impossible. Once people lose trust in your services, it takes forever to build up again!

About the Author

The author, James, has a decade of experience in strategic management. He advises businesses to come up with effective strategies for marketing and reputation management at Search Berg. He also provides online reputation management services to business owners globally.