Brand Reputation Management Is A Must
The internet is changing the way brands communicate. It’s harder than ever to protect your brand, but it’s also more important than ever for brands to engage with customers in new ways.
Reputation management isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, so here are some best practices for protecting your brand reputation online.
1. The internet is changing the way brands communicate
It’s not just about your brand’s online reputation. It’s also about making sure that your brand is seen as a good corporate citizen.
If you’re going to be visible online, it’s important to make sure that the content you create and share is positive and engaging.
In short, online reputation management isn’t just about generating more leads or closing sales—it’s about keeping people positively talking about your business from now until forever!
2. It’s harder than ever to protect your brand
Building a great brand is hard. It takes years of careful planning and execution, and the world has changed in recent decades.
One of the biggest challenges for brands today is that it has become easier than ever for people to share their opinions about your brand, whether positive or negative. We can find reviews on social media as well as through search engines like Google. Online reviews make a huge impact.
In fact, customers are more aware of what your company stands for now than ever before—so much so that a single bad review can cause significant damage to an otherwise healthy reputation.
This means that brands need to be responsible when it comes to managing their reputations online—and that means taking accountability when they make mistakes (no matter how big or small).
Also, it is important to note that good feedback (Exp: read our company feedback & reviews) needs to be real and authentic. If you are just trying to build good reviews and feedback or you are trying to repair feedback from bad review – you must do it the right way!
Read our recent article: Paying for Google Reviews is Illegal. Get Authentic Google Reviews.
“Your brand name is only as good as your reputation.” – Richard Branson
3. Brands have always had an impact on customers, but now customers influence brands too
The internet has changed the way brands communicate with their audience and, in turn, how we as consumers respond to that communication.
The influence of social media and social media marketing on brand reputation is undeniable; it’s a fact that can be seen in every industry.
It’s not just about general marketing or even digital marketing anymore: it’s about building relationships with your customers via social media channels like Facebook or Twitter, by listening to them (or “hearing” them) and responding accordingly.
This interaction with your consumer ultimately leads to more positive reviews and comments which, as we know, will enhance the perception of your brand and, bonus – establish stronger customer loyalty.
4. Reputation management is not a one-size-fits-all solution
To manage your reputation effectively, you need to understand the following:
Your brand and your audience. What do people think of when they hear your name? Are you well known or just starting out? Where do most of the people who interact with your brand reside geographically?
How much money can you spend on managing this reputation, and are there any resources that would help offset expenses like an online ad campaign?
The risks involved. Will engaging in a particular action increase or decrease your reputation overall? If so, how much will it impact it positively or negatively? What types of actions should be avoided as they may hurt more than help—and why?
Budget constraints. Managing a reputation isn’t cheap; however, there are ways around paying top dollar for everything from developing content to hiring third-party services.
You can hire a social media reputation manager or brand ambassador. You can invest in reputation management software like Birdeye, ReviewTrackers, or Reputation to assist in analysis and bridging the gap between customer and brand.
5. Direct feedback is especially dangerous to brands who have not prepared to receive it
Direct feedback is especially dangerous to brands without preparation. When a brand receives direct feedback, if prepared, it’s easier for them to respond appropriately and quickly.
However, if you don’t have a plan in place for responding to these comments and reviews, you could lose the trust of your audience.
Your customers will see that as a sign of disrespect and distrust—and they may not come back.
You need to be prepared with the right tools and strategies so that you can respond quickly when someone leaves feedback or reviews on your site or social channels.
Be wary of over-relying on automation for responses.A tool that lets you set predefined messages based on multiple criterions such as: message origin, team availability and message pattern are wonderful at answering inquiries quicker but perhaps not the predominate choice in connectiona and communication.
Automated messages are fine for simple requests like order confirmations or receipts, but they won’t work well if someone needs help with their order or has an issue with their purchase from your business’ website.
Make sure that whoever is responsible for responding uses human language (and grammar) whenever possible! This helps create a positive brand reputation because it shows that your brand cares.
6. Negative news travels fast
News travels fast. Like, really fast. A few thought to keep in mind:
- Negative reviews can have a big impact.
- Negative news travels even faster than good news—and it can be much more damaging to a brand’s reputation if you don’t anticipate and prepare for it ahead of time.
- Negative news will travel even faster when your brand has a personal connection to the story or person involved in the negative event (e.g., if you partner with an influencer whose behavior offends their followers).
- The quicker you respond to a negative event, whatever that might be or however it might be affecting your brand, the better chance you have of controlling the narrative surrounding it.
7. Address negative feedback
It is important for businesses to keep a healthy reputation with current and future clients or customers. A business’s reputation can be ruined by it interacting poorly with its audience.
One of the best ways to keep a business’s reputation positive in the eyes of the audience is to always address negative feedback and take ownership of any wrongdoing even if it feels like an inconvenience.
One small thing could snowball into a disaster for any business. The most damaging thing a business can do is ignore issues that come up and not address them properly.
When a company takes responsibility for its actions, it helps it keep in good standing with the public. Everyone makes mistakes, even businesses.
Being authentic and willing to repair any damage or misunderstandings with the public is paramount to online reputation management.
Below are a couple examples of ways brands have dealt with bad reviews in professional and classy way!
8. Sharing the good kind of news doesn’t necessarily come easy.
In the world of brand reputation management, there’s a lot of stuff you can do to improve the perception of your company. But sharing the good kind of news doesn’t necessarily come easy.
“What we find is when people have some sort of crisis or negative situation, they’re much more open to sharing it with us,” said Amy Alkon, author of I See Rude People: One Woman’s Battle To Beat Some Manners into Impolite Society and Long-Time Advice Blogger at The Advice Goddess (blogs at AsktheAdviceGoddess.com).
“But when things are going well and you want to take advantage of that opportunity to encourage positive word-of-mouth, we often find that it doesn’t come as naturally.”
Consider supporting a non-profit, sponsoring a fundraiser or doing something good for your community that you can share. It will be good for both you and the business or organization you are supporting!
9. Some brands are in clear danger of reputation damage.
In some cases, it’s obvious that a company is in clear danger of damaging its brand reputation.
For example, if your brand has been accused of selling products with dangerous ingredients or services with hidden fees, you’re probably going to want to respond quickly and decisively.
In other cases, however, the potential for damage may be harder to see.
You might have a loyal customer base that trusts you implicitly—but if no one else knows about it (or worse: if they think otherwise), then your business could suffer serious financial consequences as a result.
10. Customers want to know they’re getting great products and services, so make sure that happens by engaging with them openly and honestly.
You can’t please everyone, but you can do your best to make sure that the customers who are loyal to your brand have a great experience. That’s where customer service comes in.
You want your customers to feel like they’re part of the company, and that their voice is being heard.
It’s all about building trust with them so they know they’re getting great products and services that align with what they need from their suppliers or partners.
Showcasing customer success stories on social media, for example, helps build that bond between you and the people who matter most: The consumers who buy from you!
A company’s social media reputation is a small piece of a what an overall brand reputation entails.
If a customer has had an amazing experience working with one of our brands, we’ll let others know about it via positive reviews on Facebook or LinkedIn pages—and sometimes even feature these stories directly on our websites as well as other channels (like YouTube).
Plus this provides amazing and positive social media content!
The Good News
We’ve all heard the horror stories of brands that have had a disastrous first interaction with customers.
And it’s not just small business owners who are at risk for reputation damage—even big companies like Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have been hit hard by negative social media feedback in recent years.
But there’s good news: You can take steps to protect your brand from PR nightmares before they happen.
