Your business’s online reputation is often something overlooked, but its impact is huge. According to a recent study by BrightLocal, 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. This means that your online reputation is weighing in on consumers’ decision of doing business with you, which means it’s affecting your sales and overall success.
While it’s doubtful your business will have perfect reviews across the web, the voice of the few dissatisfied customers should not overshadow the opinion of the pleased. Here are some sound strategies to keep in mind to start improving your online reputation:
Monitor, Monitor, Monitor
How else will you know where your online reputation stands if you don’t keep track of it? It’s important to track your digital brand mentions so you can quickly address any problems that arise. You can set up notifications to track mentions of your business through Google Alerts, HootSuite or your CRM (if applicable).
Transform Your Employees into Brand Ambassadors
Your team understands your products and services inside and out – use this to your advantage. All of your employees have a chance to connect deeper with your customers, and this can help create a positive online reputation for your brand.
To get started, try to set aside time once or twice a week for your team to engage with other influencers in the industry through social media, article comments or forums.
Their engagement on the web will help your company to be seen as a thought-leader and active member within your industry. The result of this activity can deflect any negative opinions about your business and drive more traffic to your website. In short, your employees can be your most powerful brand ambassadors!
Don’t Forget Your Offline Reputation
Your online and offline reputation go hand in hand, so taking steps to improve one will affect the other. Take a hard look at your company culture and talk to your employees about their opinion of their environment. Keep in mind; you may need to make difficult decisions to maintain a positive reputation of your company. With that in mind, it’s all for the good of your brand reputation.
The More Reviews, The Better
Multiple online reviews are the most important way to boost and improve your online reputation. The sad truth is that happy customers rarely write positive reviews about their experiences. With this in mind, it’s crucial to encourage both your employees and clients to write online reviews on popular sites such as Google+, Facebook, Yelp and Glassdoor. You can even make it easier for people to review by including links to these pages on your website.
The ultimate goal with online reviews is to have more positive ones than negative to dilute the not-so-good reviews. By taking the initiative to personally encourage reviews after a transaction or offering a reward for those who take the time to submit feedback, you will see results in your favor.
If your business isn’t actively monitoring your online reputation, you are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to improve your brand image. Take the time you need to get your online reputation in shape, and the rest of your business will reap the benefits.
To learn more about online reputation, contact GreenMellen today!
