11 EFFECTIVE Tips to Manage Your Online Reputation in 2020
According to a recent survey by Dimension Research, almost 90% of the customers admitted that their online purchase decisions are affected by reviews posted by other users across various platforms.
With a large number of customers now going online to find out information about the products and services they want to purchase, it has become extremely crucial for business owners to make sure that their company, products, and services enjoy the excellent online reputation over the internet if they want to witness growth in their sales and revenues.
As a large number of customers are now present online across various platforms, an increasing number of brand managers and marketers are now fighting it out in a digital battle to grab the attention of the customers. Therefore, it becomes imperative for business owners and marketers to make sure that the reputation of the business is positive across various online platforms. This is where the role of Online Reputation Management comes to the fore.
What is ORM (Online Reputation Management)?
ORM is a term used to signify a set of activities that aim to ensure that a business entity enjoys a positive reputation in the online world. This helps the company with its marketing efforts and in turn grab the attention of target customers in an efficient manner. In simple words, ORM is the digital version of favorable word of mouth. As the competition across various product niche intensifies, it has become essential for businesses to manage their online reputation effectively.
How to manage your Business’s Online Reputation?
In the wake of the ever-increasing importance of Online reputation management for businesses, irrespective of their size, it has become imperative for you to work relentlessly towards making sure that your business enjoys a positive online reputation.
Here are a few useful tips to help you with the management of the online reputation of a business: –
1. Monitor your online reputation
You must stay active online and keep track of discussions going on about your brand, products, and services. You also need to keep a measure of the reputation enjoyed by your competitors. You can use google alerts or other specialized software for this.
2. Fortify your digital presence
With a large number of potential customers as well as existing customers of your company present online, you must be readily accessible to them. In order to do so, you must have a strong presence across multiple social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. This will help your customers to reach out to you in a quick and efficient manner and will also help you to resolve their queries promptly.
3. Ensure Transparency
In this age of open communication, customers want to have a direct conversation with the company and its representatives, if they have any queries. Social Media has further eroded any barriers between a company and its customers. You must also maintain transparency in your operations and allow open communication between your employees and your customers.
4. Do not suppress criticism
Suppressing criticism is the worst thing that you can do to your online reputation. If someone has posted a negative review or experience about your company, by suppressing their voice, you are ignoring the bigger picture. You need to get in touch with the dissatisfied customer and make sure that you understand the root cause of their grievance and work towards correcting it. This will help you make sure that other customers do not experience the same problem.
5. React Quickly and Positively
You should not be found a sitting duck. Keep an open eye for discussions going on about your company online. If you see any negative comment, act quickly. Get in touch with the customer who has complained, apologize for the inconvenience caused and then take remedial action immediately. By responding quickly to any complaint, you can show your customers that you value their patronage.
6. Leverage your employees
Your employees are your best assets. Make sure that they stay happy and satisfied with your company. Their positive reviews on platforms such as glassdoor can work wonders for your online reputation.
7. Reward customers for reviewing
Look forward to any possible opportunity of rewarding and encouraging your customers to post positive reviews about your company. If they had made a complaint and it has been resolved, request them to change the review to positive. More are the number of positive reviews about your company on the internet; greater would be the trust you would enjoy with new customers.
8. Focus on SEO
You must make sure that your company website appears on the first page of Google and other major search engines. This will help your company feature prominently in the customer’s top of mind, and this would establish you as an expert in your product niche. Therefore, customers are more likely to engage with you.
9. Start your own blog
Blogging is an effective way to keep your customers informed about various aspects of your business as well as inform them about the latest developments in your industry. In recent years, blogging has emerged as a powerful tool to spread a message and create a positive reputation.
Know How Blog can grow your business by 300%
10. Don’t shy away from asking for help
If you think that your online reputation management requires professional help, do not wait for something to happen miraculously. Take the command in your hands and seek help from professional ORM management companies who can take care of the whole process for you and make sure that your company enjoys an excellent online reputation.
11. Post engaging content
Use your social media accounts to your advantage. Regularly post engaging content that is of interest to your target customers and encourages them to be involved with your company.
Must know about these 20 Types of Content that you can Create to Engage with viewers
It is crucial for every business owner and marketer to make sure that the business enjoys an excellent online reputation, as nowadays the meaning of online presence has shifted from hardcore sales to more towards customer engagement. With a positive online reputation, your business is more likely to be preferred by customers when they are looking for products and services similar to which you deal.