What exactly is reputation management, and how can it effect your business? In this brief article we will cover what it is and why your company needs to monitor it's online presence and what your customers are saying about you and your services.
Online reputation is becoming more important for businesses of all sizes that do and don't have an online presence. Just because your company doesn't have a website, which in this day and age is ludicrous, or doesn't have a Facebook page, or Twitter account, doesn't mean that these platforms aren't important or relevant to your company.
Not only do you have to be concerned with what's being said on social media, but also the countless directories online like Yelp, Manta, Kudzu, YP.com and a host of others.
The Affect Of Your Online Reputation On Your Business
So down to the nitty gritty - let's first look at some statistics about online reviews and how they are perceived by the public. In an article done by Kent Campbell on Reputatoinx.com blog, he shares some brutal statistics:
Eight Reputation Statistics That Affect How You're Seen Online
91% of North American consumers read online reviews to learn about a business.
For better or for worse, most consumers are checking out Google Reviews, Yelp, and other customer feedback systems to get more information on businesses, says the most recent BrightLocal Consumer Review survey. Consumers often take into account what other people write about a brand, product, or service to determine if it’s a “good” business or not.
60% of consumers: Negative reviews turned them away
If reviews are overwhelmingly positive, the survey reports that 74% of consumers have greater trust in the organization. On the other hand, 60% of respondents said that negative reviews made them not want to use a business. Those with mostly 1- or 2-star reviews fail to convert 86% of prospective customers –– a major loss, especially for startups, who need the initial momentum to get going.
Recent reviews taken more seriously
The report also shows that consumers are getting better at sorting the real reviews from the fake, and they’re more likely to take a recent review seriously than an older one. Consumers will catch on when businesses hire people to write fake reviews, or resort to other automated, non-organic means of cultivating a positive reputation. Only authentic reviews will do.
Good information from Kent that simply can't be ignored. He also stated in his article that businesses with mostly 1 star and 2 star reviews fail to convert about 90% of new potential clients!
In Kent's article, that was mostly about what is happening with what can be found in Google search. But what about social media?
Monitor Your Social Media Reputation
Usually with social media your reviews are in the form of comments. Now there are more platforms that you need to be concerned about. The two major sites that you must monitor are of course Facebook and Twitter. Fortunately, it's easy to respond to these comments, but you must respond to these comments calmly, intelligently and most importantly - RESPECTFULLY. Get this wrong and it can cost your company thousands, if not millions in lost revenue!
Kissmetrics wrote an article with some great examples of "getting it wrong" or "reputation management failures" as they call it:
Here are three famous cases of reputation management failure in the digital era:
- Dark Horse Café received a tweet criticizing their lack of electrical outlets for laptops. Their response was something like: “We are in the coffee business, not the office business. We have plenty of outlets to do what we need.” Needless to say, this kind of defensive/aggressive behavior doesn’t work in the online world. Many blogs reported the fact as a negative public relations case.
- Nestlé received negative comments about their environmental practices a few years ago, and they did not address them. People started becoming aggressive and posted altered versions of the Nestlé logo, forcing the company to close their public page. Takeaway? Do not pretend people are not talking, and address criticism as soon as possible.
- Amy’s Baking Company fought fire with fire against a one-star internet review. Their insults against the reviewer eventually were picked up by the local news. It is obvious that negative attention is not good publicity.
What are people saying about you? Good online reputation management is not only about reacting well to what people say about you, your brand, or your products and services, but also about whether to react at all and, if so, when. Sometimes a reaction is not necessary, and sometimes a reaction that is too late can cost you millions.
A proactive approach to the matter consists of monitoring your public reputation on a regular basis, and not just when you come to know about a specific event to deal with. How do you do this? The magic tools invented to solve this problem fall under the name of “social media monitoring.”
Read The Full Article "The Definitive Guide to Online Reputation Management"
Great article for Kissmetrics. There is a lot of good information there. How you respond to unsatisfied customers and reviews for social media also needs to be applied to Google reviews and other review sites like Yelp as well.
Summing It All Up
Reputation management consists of just what it says, managing what customers are saying about your company online and giving a proper response, if required.
All to often it's something that companies and businesses think about after it's too late. Bad reviews and negative comments are on multiple platforms and sales are plummeting.
Our company prefers the avenue of "reputation marketing", which is something we will get into in later posts. So stay tuned to our site for more on how you can protect your online presence.
If you would like a free consultation about your company's online reputation, visit our site at https://www.mdimsolutions.com
What Is Reputation Management? was
originally published to MDIMS Digital Marketing Blog
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