As you’re likely to have seen, online reviews can quickly turn things around for brand reputation—for both good and bad. It’s not unusual for brands to be subjected to unfair attacks. Even for major corporations, poor reviews, slander, and bad publicity are not uncommon. It is, therefore, essential to have an understanding of online brand reputation management.
In this article, we’ll learn the answer to the question, “what is brand reputation management?” and ways to fix your reputation and attract new customers. Digital marketing company ADMS has five tips to help you if your online image is in a bind. You will find best practices that can rebuild your brand reputation with a sound brand crisis management strategy. Let’s begin.
What is Brand Reputation Management?
Your brand reputation is how others perceive your business. It reflects the emotions and reactions people have to it. It is like a mirror that reflects the trust people place in your brand.
Brand reputation management involves strategies that a company can utilize to build a positive reputation around its brand. These activities include detailed analyses and audits that help determine the next steps.
Managing brand reputation is an ongoing process that focuses on improving and striving to create a perfect image.
It has a significant effect on customer loyalty and bottom-line growth. It helps you to build and sustain your leadership position in your industry.
The following activities are important for brand reputation management:
- Monitor: constantly monitor what others say about your brand.
- Promote: promoting activities that can impact your brand’s trustworthiness.
- Suppress: responding to negative reviews and not being indifferent.
Five Tips for Building a Brand Crisis Management Strategy
Now that we know how online reputation management allows businesses to monitor their standing, let’s look at how you can improve your brand’s reputation by monitoring what people say about it.
Managing your brand reputation can be difficult. Even one small mistake could impact your business. You need to follow a plan and not rush to make decisions. That’s why brand reputation crisis management is so crucial for any business because it’s how you can get your brand reputation under control—yes, even if you’re amidst a reputation crisis due to a negative review.
Here are five tips to help you recover from a reputation crisis.
1. Evaluate the current status of your brand reputation.
Regardless if you own an established or brand-new company, you must evaluate your reputation as often as possible. It is to help determine which areas to invest in and make better decisions about your overall strategy.
There may be a lot of false or damaging information online. Perhaps the business cannot rank well in search engines and requires significant content creation to improve its image. Although it may sound easy, you can start by performing basic keyword searches on various search engines and social networks to find out what is already online.
2. Nurture positive reviews.
Online reviews are crucial to bringing in new customers. Any brand should have a lot of verified reviews on popular platforms like Yelp or Google to ensure new business. You can ensure that your customers know your ability to receive these reviews by putting signs up at your business and graphics on your website and social networks. But make sure to check any site’s terms and conditions to ensure you don’t violate them.
Go through the negative feedback and respond to them as soon as you can. It will show everyone reading the feedback that you take matters seriously and are committed to improving your customers’ experience.
According to BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey, 89% of consumers say they are likely to use a company that responds to all its online reviews. Positive reviews will eventually build up if you address these issues and make positive changes to your business.
3. Keep your social media up-to-date.
Your social media accounts should contain accurate business hours and contact information. Brands that share authentic glimpses of their day will attract new customers beyond these basic details. Instagram and Facebook are two of the most popular places potential customers visit.
Search results will also include your social media accounts. These accounts allow you to control the messaging and present your brand’s best face at the top of search results. Even though it might not seem a priority for you, it is a great way to create profiles on all the relevant platforms.
4. Invest in customer services.
It’s impossible to overstate the impact word-of-mouth has on your brand. Loyal customers can bring new business if they spread their love for your brand. It would help if you were transparent about the services and products you offer to ensure there is no miscommunication with customers. You can have a customer service number available by phone or email. Make sure you answer any questions promptly and politely.
Customers today expect privacy to be respected and protected. Your website should be secure and contain limited advertising to ensure that nobody feels unsafe when visiting it.
5. Create positive content.
Creating new content is one of the best ways for your brand to be noticed. It can also impact your online reputation. What does this mean? Working with multiple mediums such as press releases, newspaper articles, custom videos, and bespoke photography can impact many customer types.
For example, an interview in a magazine about your business can reach clients who are already interested in the subject, while partnering with a social media expert on a video campaign may reach a new audience you haven’t reached before. It is especially beneficial to include news content in your internet searches. This will make it appear higher in search results. Keep up with the latest press releases and articles. You might consider paying for paid promotion to ensure that your content reaches the right audience.
Maintain Your Online Presence With Help From ADMS
A positive brand reputation is essential for building trust, generating leads, and leaving a lasting impression on customers.
Sometimes, brand and reputation management gets lost in daily tasks. Repairing can be costly, time-consuming, and challenging. Overlooking it can cause irreparable damage to the brand’s reputation.
As a Denver SEO company with extensive experience in reputation management, ADMS can guide you in establishing and maintaining a positive online presence. You can also enlist ADMS’s reputation management services to help you re-establish online authority. You can keep your fingers on the pulse of what’s happening and be ready to react when it happens through the tips we shared in this post.
Don’t get left behind. Contact the team today and start building or rebuilding your online reputation.