4 Reasons Why Reputation Management is a Must

Did you know that 84% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations?

There is no doubting that information today spreads faster than it ever has before. This directly applies to service or product reviews made by clients and consumers. The growth of social media partnered with the ability to easily access the internet no matter where you are has produced a need for online reputation management or ORM.

Online reputation management is the process of monitoring and influencing your business’s online presence. A good ORM strategy has the ability to protect your brand, provide insights, and much more.

Below are four reasons why you should already have a strong online reputation management in place.

The Importance of Reputation Management

Put Your Best Face Forward

Your company’s reputation is how it is viewed by consumers, potential employees and investors. Any and all of these factors can be influenced by one negative review, tweet, or Facebook post. If you don’t have a strategy in place that includes someone promptly replying to these complaints as they come in, within 24 hours, your brand’s image could be tainted in a matter of retweets, likes or shares. It could look like your customer’s response is not important to the company, which is something you never want to convey.

Use reputation management to help you put your company’s best face forward. Make sure that you are the go-to company to solve problems within your industry or are the best service of choice by overseeing reviews and replying to all of them.

Building Trust & Credibility

The day will come when you receive a bad review. Whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, or an industry-specific website, it is inevitable to keep all negative comments at bay. While unfavorable comments can sway the purchasing decision of a potential client, not responding or reacting to that review as a business can make a larger impact.

People research companies more than ever. If they see that a company has a slew of unanswered complaints, it will be a red flag and they will be hesitant to do business with you.

Being able to recover from a negative review helps restore lost confidence in your company and helps regain trust with your audience. Show your customers and potential business partners that you value their feedback by acknowledging that you have seen it and by letting them know that you will take it into consideration or mediate the issue.

Analyzing the Wants and Needs of Your Consumers

Looking over all your reviews will also give you insight into what is working and not working with your business. Customers will surely point out the things that they can’t get enough of, as well as the things that they could do without. Refine your business by spotting these complaints and tracking the ones that appear consistently. This will not only help your bottom line but will also show that your business is innovative and knows how to adapt to current times.

Consumers will appreciate that you are taking their values into consideration and feel that they are a crucial component of your business. This will help build brand loyalty and good rapport.

Maintaining Thought Leadership

One of the sides of online reputation management that is often overlooked is the content produced by a company. While your online reputation may be defined by what others say about you, it is also largely defined by what you say as well. Take precautions to make sure that all your content is relevant, targeted and relatable.

For instance, before posting a message that contains any hashtags or trending words, be sure to research its origin. Make sure that where it came from aligns with your company’s mission and culture. If you are unsure about it, take the safer route and walk away from it.

The cost of a poor online reputation is immeasurable. A few negative comments have the ability to tear down the brand that you have spent time establishing. Your web presence has the power to drive leads, attract new customers and retain old ones. Don’t leave that up to chance, start building your online reputation management strategy now.

Do you have an online reputation management strategy? Contact SOCi today for a free audit of your reputation management strategy!