Why it’s Time for Reputation Management to Be Your Number One Marketing Priority 

In the age of social media and internet company reviews, a company can live or die by its reputation. Even when your company is performing above expectations, it is important not to underestimate the power of reputation management as fluctuations can damage your ability to maintain sales while offering the potential for vast improvement.

As a result, having a reputation management system in place for your company is paramount. With cutthroat competition, your reputation can provide the leverage you need to establish your brand as the dominant offering on the market.  

Here is what you need to know to understand why managing your reputation should be your primary marketing priority. One thing that can go a long way in building your reputation within your sites content is following the E.A.T. method, which is expertise, authority, and trust.

Building Online Consumer Trust

Consumers have been bombarded with commercial advertising for decades. Whether through television, freeway signage, internet pop-ups, radio, magazine pages, and a plethora of other mediums, there is always a source vying for an individual’s attention.  

Throughout these long years, society has grown increasingly distrustful of and desensitized to traditional advertisements. More and more, potential customers take to the web to evaluate services through customer reviews.

When they see that your brand has established a high rating through reviews, it shows that customers are satisfied with your products and customer service, which serves as a solid starting point for building trust with potential customers.  

The more people that share their wonderful experience dealing with your entity, the more that newcomers feel that they should be able to trust you because high review statistics translate into an assurance that interacting with your brand is a low-risk, high-success endeavor.  

Because of this online review paradigm shift, entrepreneurs should establish a proactive system to build their online reputation, developing strategies to improve customer service and garner as many positive customer reviews as possible.  
 
The key goal is to outperform the competition in this sector, as companies with a significantly better consumer rating are far more likely to be the final choice for those seeking the provided services.

Credibility and Perception

As an added effect of building trust, your company establishes credibility. People are generally skeptical of new enterprises as they are often perceived as a wild card experience.  

When a consumer witnesses many reviews (hopefully with a net positive outcome), they see that you have a well-established customer base and that implies that your brand does a great amount of business. In turn, that builds your credibility because you must be doing something right to attract so many customers.  

Along with credibility, perception is a key component of successful marketing. As such, your reputation management system should include provisions to ensure that your brand’s reputation is perceived as a positive one.

You have undoubtedly heard the expression “out of sight, out of mind.” There is a lot of truth in that sentiment and while consumers have built a distrust for traditional advertisement, it does serve its purpose.

When promoting your company, how your company is perceived based on your advertisements is crucial. You want your advertisements to draw customers in, increasing awareness of your brand while ensuring that viewers will receive a positive perception of your company.

Social media is a great tool to reach a wide audience and provide interesting content. As a bonus, it does not have to break your budget!  

Consider how wide of an audience a cell-phone viral video can achieve online, through views and shares. If you play your cards right, you can develop trending ads or videos that people enjoy so much they want to share with the friends and acquaintances in their network. Just remember – make sure that you build around perception because a viral video can shut you down as quickly as it can boost you up.

Don’t discount email marketing either – you can build an incredible reputation by creating engaging content and participating in the gamification of your services. After all, modern society has embraced games of all sorts and programs built around gamification generally prove successful because they are fun.  

There are a wide variety of options at your disposal, from actual games consumers can play for prizes to punch-card programs. People like to enjoy themselves and if your reputation management strategy can represent your brand as a fun and rewarding experience, people are going to flock to your brand.

No News is Not Good News

While it may be soothing for some businesses to believe that having no reviews is better than negative reviews, neither is particularly beneficial for your company. After all, when someone performs a search online for service providers, your brand is unlikely to even feature without a strong online presence and serious positive results.

That means an important part of your reputation management strategy includes designing an attractive, functional, and, most importantly, high-traffic website. While providing a detailed explanation extolling the virtues of your brand, you should also provide interactive content such as surveys, social media posts that encourage participation, and especially a user-friendly review interface.

Angry customers are certainly seeking a forum to vent about unpleasant experiences, but consumers with positive experiences are also willing to support you, especially if asked or given an easy opportunity to do so.

Providing incentives for honest feedback is another great way to not only reward your customers for their service but also show that you care what others think about your brand. This can be as simple as offering a coupon or online discount code to show appreciation for the reviewer’s time.

Sometimes sales are made simply by providing a simplistic, professional-looking landing page featuring actual user experiences to establish that your company is trustworthy and willing to go above and beyond to ensure a positive experience.

Consumers will judge your service based on your website, which factors heavily into your brand’s reputation. If you do not have the savvy or time to properly design and maintain your own site, it is worthwhile to find a professional to ensure that you are competitive in the online market.

Customer Insights

Through your engagement strategies and reviews, you have so much to gain, even from those whose experiences are less than stellar. There is always something you can learn from these customer insights.

You can’t please everyone but finding out why you were unable to please individual consumers can help you monitor your products and procedures for quality assurance and adapt accordingly.

Knowledge is power and knowing what you can do to improve your customer experience allows you to increase your success rate with current and future clients. Your increased results and willingness to accommodate your consumers will also grow your reputation.

Also, finding ways to improve the experience for those who shared negative feedback can sometimes result in an updated review and create a new fan as you were willing to take the time to show that these customers matter to you while going above and beyond to rectify the situation.

Word of Mouth

Don’t overlook the power of word of mouth when focusing on reputation management. While many clients will take the web to spread the word, others will recommend you to friends and colleagues in their local networks if you play your cards right.

Your goal is to create raving fans, whether performing your services online or within a brick-and-mortar location, as satisfied customers will often share their wonderful experiences with those they know.

The trick is to ensure that customers receive tailored and exceptional experiences. A memorable experience is far more likely to become the topic of discussion, whether positive or negative, so ensure that you create the former.

When those they trust are bragging about how amazing your brand is, people will listen. This provides an unbridled opportunity for growth as continued positive experiences continue to spread through community networks until you suddenly have a large fanbase dedicated to your company.

One of the best results of these raving fans is that they will often go out of their way to do your advertising for you, whether through social media, word of mouth, or other avenues. It is certainly easy for you to provide incentives for them to do so, as they already love you!

Final Thoughts

If your number one company focus is not building your reputation, you should probably reevaluate your strategy. After all, your brand is the lifeblood of your company, and if you are nurturing your reputation properly, the rest will take care of itself.

These are just a few important ways reputation management can pay incredible dividends, as you will:

  • Attract loyal supporters
  • Discover more business opportunities
  • Reduce marketing expenses
  • Improve your customer base and revenue
  • Create “raving fans”
  • Attract higher quality employees
  • Achieve increased company value
  • Establish credibility
  • Stand out among the sea of competitors

Your reputation determines how others perceive you. Take the time to make sure that everything you do reflects well on your brand and draws others to your products and services – the results will speak for themselves.