Your Brand’s Online Reputation Is Either Your Biggest Ally or Your Worst Enemy. Here’s How to Control It.

Today’s digital landscape is the word of mouth for local businesses, with your online brand reputation impacting everything from revenue to client acquisition costs to consumer trust, client retention and repeat purchases.

News items, press releases, feature stories, social media mentions and customer reviews, along with your website and other online content, can make or break your business and personal reputation. 

Reputation travels fast in our online environment

The online landscape is the portal into how consumers perceive you and your company. It’s where people go to learn about your business, its products and services, and its values. It’s also where they go to review customer feedback. They depend in large part on the experiences of others who have worked or interacted with your business and what they have to say. 

Just think about how you go about deciding whether to use a service or buy a product. Most likely, you Google the business to see what comes up. You check reviews, even comments on social platforms. If the reviews are positive, you are more confident about moving forward. You trust the organization. If there are a slew of negative comments, you’ll decide to go elsewhere. The same applies to your business.

What comes up in one’s search results not only goes a long way toward ensuring your company’s visibility but also shapes customer opinions and decisions about whether to buy your products or use your service and refer you to others. You also have the opportunity to create a community of brand advocates.

Don’t do business without a strong, ongoing ORM strategy

Online reputation management (ORM) involves tools and practices focused on protecting and managing your online image and influencing how your business is perceived. With a mindful and consistent ORM approach, you can control your brand’s narrative, highlight your business’s positive attributes and the people behind it, effectively target your audience and leverage visibility. 

Without an ORM strategy in place, disparaging customer comments, negative press articles, fake or misleading news, controversial viral videos or misinterpreted quotes by you or other company leaders can wreak havoc on your business’s reputation. Consumer trust is diminished, revenue is lost, employee morale suffers, and marketing expenses rise as you attempt to recover from a hit to your reputation. 

Additionally, without an ORM strategy, you lose out on boosting your visibility in search engines. While your competition ranks high on page one of Google, your business is lost in the weeds of online obscurity while competitors capture attention, leads and sales.

Managing your brand reputation

Monitor what’s being said:

Begin your ORM strategy by tracking online mentions of your business. You can use tools like Google Alerts to monitor online conversations related to your brand. Check social media, review sites and other platforms, and stay on top of feedback and any issues that may arise. Respond immediately to both positive and negative reviews. 

Acknowledge happy customers and thank them for the good word. Address negative reviews and any missteps before they escalate. Be responsive, personal and authentic in your approach to comments. If you can resolve the situation, do so; when necessary, take the conversation offline. You don’t want the situation to escalate in public view. The disgruntled customer may also appreciate that you’re taking the time to rectify the situation personally. 

Implement brand consistency:

Your messaging — in voice, tone and look — should be the same across all your platforms. This includes your website, social platforms, blogs, email campaigns, online ads, etc. Also, ensure that your business information is accurate and consistent across all online platforms, including your website, Google Business Profile and social media.

Consistency brings familiarity and reinforces your company’s goals and values. 

Engage with your customers and encourage feedback and reviews:

Engagement involves not only responding to comments but also regularly providing relevant content that helps build relationships. Content includes blogs and social media posts, thought leadership articles and other materials that highlight your expertise, showcase customer success stories and provide value to your audience. 

Engaging with your customers shows them you’re available and invested in their experience while keeping your brand front and center. Engagement fosters repeat business and can deliver referrals. 

Ask clients for their feedback about a specific product or service, including reviews. After a purchase, reach out and ask them to let you know if they are happy with their purchase and why. Share these positive reviews and customer comments, too. Businesses with substantial positive reviews attract more clients. 

Regular content also helps you improve search engine ranking and maximize visibility, as Google and other platforms favor companies that are active online with fresh information and positive reviews. 

Be transparent and take accountability for missteps:

You hear this quite often. That’s because it can be hard to discern what’s real or not, and because accountability can be challenging for businesses. But if something goes wrong, don’t obfuscate. Your brand will take a hit if you do.

Explain what happened and what is being done to correct the situation and make good on your promises. Apologize. Simple, no excuses. 

How you handle a delicate situation goes a long way toward mitigating and repairing reputational damage. It’s an opportunity to underscore your value and your brand integrity. Equally important, clients will respect your honesty and professionalism. 

Plan for potential issues:

No matter how well you run your business, challenges arise. Nothing is perfect, and not everything goes smoothly. So plan for the “just in case” and the “what ifs.” A crisis management plan will help you avoid the domino effect that can occur from a service failure, missed deadline, negative reviews or a PR mishap. 

Establish guidelines for addressing potential problems so you can act quickly, clearly and mindfully. Assign an individual to carry out the plan. Even small businesses should have such a plan in place, along with a disaster and business continuity plan to deal with, for example, weather events. Protecting your business reputation is just as critical.

Your brand’s online reputation requires TLC to deliver more leads, clients, positive mentions and reviews, referrals and advocates. When consistently managed, it can strengthen credibility, improve visibility and turn satisfied customers into powerful ambassadors for your business.