Customers put in the effort to leave reviews when they experience excellent customer service or when the products they bought exceeded their expectations, but they will also do the same if they experience unsatisfactory service.
There is no pleasing everyone, but if you want your business to stay on top of the competition, you would want to get primarily positive reviews. This will attract more people to check out your brand, purchase your products, or avail of the services you offer.
Why Should Businesses Care About What Their Customers Say Online?
Most people make it a point to check the internet before making any purchase. Your target audience will refer to the testimonials of people who have previously done business with you. When they type in your company name or brand, anything that relates to your brand will come up–even the negative ones.
Negative impressions about your brand will hurt your sales. People are more inclined to believe what other people say about your brand rather than what you say about your own company. They become more willing to pay for what you offer when there are great reviews that highlight the good things about your products and services. If people are dismayed with your business, there’s a high possibility that they will share their frustrations online.
Because people are becoming more active online, it has become more significant for businesses to get ahead of their internet reputation management strategies.
How Do You Effectively Manage Your Online Reputation?
1. Respond to Inquiries.
When a company has a social media platform, people expect them to be reachable. It is important that you reply to your target market’s inquiries promptly. They will appreciate it if they receive a reply even if you don’t immediately have the exact answers to their queries.
If you publish blogs regularly, you should reply when readers share their thoughts. Doing so will make them feel valued. Validating readers’ thoughts will allow you to form a deeper connection with them, which in turn could earn you loyal customers in the long run.
2. Get Influencers to Talk About Your Brand.
Influencers stand in the place of celebrity brand ambassadors when it comes to product promotions. Unlike before, it is no longer enough to hire an adored celebrity to endorse your brand. People now get their advice on what to buy from social media influencers who can give honest reviews about the products they are interested in. Enhance your image by getting a social media influencer–preferably one with a significant number of followers–to talk about your brand.
3. Monitor What People Say About Your Brand Across Different Platforms.
People share their thoughts across different social media platforms. It is essential that you monitor what people say about you. Doing this regularly will help you gather ideas on how your target audience perceives your brand. You can also respond and thank them for sharing their reviews. If it is negative, you can offer them solutions or ask them for suggestions.
4. Entice Your Target Market to Leave Reviews on Google and Yelp.
As previously mentioned, online reviews leave a huge impact on people who are planning to buy your products or avail of your services. Google and Yelp reviews are usually the top results when people search for you. Encourage your existing clients to leave reviews on Google and Yelp. Offer incentives such as discount coupons to motivate them to leave their feedback. The more good reviews you have, the better.
5. Be Transparent.
Businesses–no matter the size–should practice transparency. Should you ever have to deal with negative feedback, don’t try to hide or delete the comment. Doing this will not mitigate the situation and will only create a backlash. You might just end up hurting your brand in the process.
Address these comments in a professional manner. Know that this is a great way to show your readers that you take customer feedback seriously.
The online world is big, and as a business owner, you should know the right things to do for an effective digital reputation management strategy. However, managing a business takes a lot of time. There are so many things that need to be handled behind the scenes that you might not find the time to comb through all your customers’ reviews. Luckily, there are companies that provide online reputation management services.
If you want one of the best online reputation management companies to help you, Advanced Digital Media Services, Inc. is here for you. We offer online reputation management services. We will be the ones to handle everything for you. Our team will publish valuable content to enhance your image online and outperform negative reviews should your company have any at all. Let’s work on your online reputation. Contact us at 877-237-6969 or email us at [email protected].
