5 Easy Ways To Manage Your Online Reputation

Word of mouth travels faster than it ever did. With the help of digital media customer feedback, opinions, and recommendations are now reaching global audiences, and instantly.

Canadians spend the most time online – TorontoSun

With this extensive reach, the reputation of brands are at risk of being unknowingly diminished with a few loud unhappy customers. (Unfortunately, it is usually the unhappy customers that shout the most and the loudest….)

It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it. – Benjamin Franklin

We have had a few clients shy away from digital media because of the fear of negative feedback spreading its way through the digi-sphere. However, avoiding setting up your own brand presences on social networks doesn’t mean you won’t be there. Consumers are still voicing opinions, giving recommendations, and sharing experiences. This content could easily include the mention of you brand. If you want to be a part of that conversation, and steer it for positive outcomes, you need to be present.

Manage your brand’s online reputation by being proactive, listening well, and reacting accordingly. Here are a few easy ways on how to do that:

Research what is already being said online about your brand, products, services, staff, etc. Get the full and honest picture so that you know where you need to focus on improving your online reputation .

Create content, on a regular basis, that promotes your brand as leaders in your industry. This content is not meant to boast about how great your products and services are, but rather to show your depth of knowledge and skill. Editorial pieces, or blogs, that are helpful to those that would be interested in what you have to sell will encourage repetitive engagement and ultimately keep you “top of mind”.

Create these blogs with Search Engine Optimization in mind, so that this content is not only establishing your brand as thought-leaders but also improves your SEO.

Now that you have this great content, be sure to share it! Share it on all of your social media pages and relevant web directories – not just once, but repetitively.

Continually reuse this content by tweeting bits and bytes to your Twitter followers, posting to your Facebook fans and to your LinkedIn followers. Use each blog post as much as possible to maximize on your content creation efforts.

Reviews are becoming an integral part of your cunsumer’s purchase path, regardless of whether the actual purchase is made online or offline.

60% of shoppers consult reviews before buying – MarketingProfs

Tools such as that of our partner, Reputation.com provide simple platforms that help you manage the sharing of good reviews. It also facilitates the follow-up of bad reviews so that you have the opportunity to change that customer’s opinion and possibly turn the review around to a good one. [ FIND OUT MORE ABOUT REPUTATION.COM ]

What better way to list your company in directory, where your competitors are likely to simply show address and phone number? Showing reviews gives potential customers confidence in contacting you.