Online Reputation Management Services
Online reputation is an essential part of building your brand or business. In today’s online marketplace, consumers are very savvy and they are far more likely to rely on information found online rather than relying on face-to-face interactions with a company or person. If your brand is damaged by negative social media chatter, you can jeopardize your business and even your reputation. If you want to manage this effectively, you need to become very clear about what your brand is all about and how it should be represented online.
There’s one aspect of reputation management that seems to go completely overlooked by companies: monitoring. Monitoring your reputation is vital because negative chatter continues to build up and can actually slow down or halt your progress. You see, negative stories (such as ones about you get in a fender bender) will go viral and spread like wildfire. Even a simple comment can have a ripple effect online, especially if it’s made by a disgruntled former employee or customer. By monitoring what’s being said in social forums, news groups, emails, blog posts, etc., you can address your issues and take steps to address the negative feedback that’s been building up.
When a consumer encounters a negative story about your business online, one of the first things they’ll remember is whether or not you had a good or bad experience during their visit to your website. Whether the experience was good or bad will depend largely on their emotional response to the event. For instance, if a customer comes away from a bad experience thinking that you’re untrustworthy, they’ll be much less likely to engage with you again; conversely, if they come away feeling “positive” about your web presence, you may be at a slight advantage.
The goal of online reputation management is two-fold. First, it helps manage the negative stories that do impact your brand image. By monitoring social media chatter and responding to negative posts with professionally written replies, you can begin to reduce the amount of incoming negativity. The second purpose of PR is to foster trust in your business. If consumers connect with someone they’ve previously established a relationship with, they’ll feel more comfortable purchasing from that same person than from someone unknown.
Branding is an essential marketing tool for any business. However, the last thing any company wants is for a PR crisis to occur and have their carefully cultivated brand reputation damaged. Companies that make a mistake that causes a PR crisis stand to lose customers, subscribers, and search engine rankings. Online reputation management services offer several solutions to mitigate the damage done by a PR crisis.
Many companies overlook customer service in relation to their brand image; however, without good customer service, a good reputation is just a perception or a habitation of the past. Many businesses focus on content marketing, while failing to address other key issues such as privacy and safety. The Internet, as well as social media, have made customer service more important than ever, and a company that fails to provide quality customer service is quickly losing customer loyalty. In order to manage brand awareness and strengthen customer ties, online reputation management services will offer solutions through content marketing, SEO, social media, blogging, and other strategies.
Managing brand reputation requires the cooperation of a number of departments including Web PR, Social Media, SEO, Finance, and Marketing. A comprehensive strategy should be developed to build a solid foundation for business operations and brand image. A brand image is crucial to attracting new customers and keeping existing customers while also building loyalty among current ones. Social media marketing is one of the best ways to leverage social media to enhance your brand image, increase visibility, improve customer relations, and provide a venue for customer self-service.
Companies that cannot afford to ignore a PR crisis face an uncertain future. In a worst case scenario, a PR crisis could lead to significant negative press, consumer backlash, product recalls, employee layoffs, legal action, brand erosion, employee grievances, and damaging lawsuits. Companies that effectively manage their brand reputation must-haves and implement strategies that build a sustainable online reputation management program.
