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Managing your business’ reputation is crucial for success. It involves how you are perceived by customers and prospects, and it plays a significant role in shaping your brand image. While improving the customer experience is important, it is not enough in today’s digital age. To effectively manage your business’ online reputation, you need to employ various strategies that work together to enhance your overall reputation.
What is Reputation Management?
Reputation management is a strategic discipline that involves monitoring, generating, and responding to customer engagement across multiple review sites to improve your brand’s image. It focuses on actively managing how your business is perceived online and involves techniques that help boost your online reputation.
To help you effectively manage your online reputation, here are 12 strategies for local online reputation management that every business should adopt. These strategies are divided into four categories: Monitoring, Generating, Engaging, and Maintaining.
Monitoring Your Business Online
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Actively monitor your review platforms and customer feedback: Keep a close eye on your review platforms such as Google, Facebook, and industry-specific sites. Your reputation lives on these platforms, and it is important to know what your customers are saying about your business. You can either use an in-house team or outsource this task to a managed service to efficiently monitor and engage with customer feedback.
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Set up Google alerts with your business’s name: Setting up Google Alerts for your business and industry allows you to receive notifications whenever your business is mentioned online. This helps you stay on top of any news or discussions related to your business and enables you to react promptly.
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Implement monitoring tools: Use tools to keep track of where and how your company or products are being talked about online. This includes blogs, social media, user forums, and other relevant platforms. These tools help you stay ahead of the game in terms of damage control, sentiment awareness, and finding new engagement opportunities.
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Keep your Google Business Profile (GBP) up-to-date: Regularly review and update your business’ GBP to ensure that all the information is accurate and relevant. This includes business hours, phone number, photos, and service area details. An updated and accurate GBP builds trust and enhances the customer experience.
Generating Reviews and Customer Feedback
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Adopt a review generation strategy: Develop a strategy to generate more reviews for your business. This can be done by directly asking your customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google, Facebook, and industry-specific sites. Automating the review solicitation process through SMS requests can help increase the number of positive reviews.
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Set a review volume goal and timeline: Determine the number of reviews you aim to achieve and set a timeline to reach that goal. Conduct competitive analysis to determine the ideal review volume for your business. Focus not only on volume but also on review frequency to show consistency and popularity.
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Personalize the language of review requests: Tailor your review requests to guide customers towards leaving feedback that highlights the aspects of your business you want to promote. Ask specific questions that align with your value proposition, such as inquiring about your business’s selection if you want to emphasize that aspect.
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Launch a video testimonial strategy: Video testimonials are powerful tools for building trust and enhancing your online reputation. Use automated software to collect user-generated video content that showcases positive feedback about your business. Share the best videos on social media and use them in your advertising.
Engaging with Customer Feedback
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Respond to every review: Responding to all reviews, both positive and negative, demonstrates that you value customer feedback and are willing to address any concerns. This not only shows appreciation to the reviewer but also leaves a positive impression on prospective customers who are reading the reviews.
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Reply to feedback found on your social media accounts: Manage your business’s social media accounts effectively by responding to feedback and comments. While not all social media platforms function as review sites, customers and prospects still view these platforms and may be influenced by any unaddressed feedback. Responding to comments and posts helps build a positive online reputation.
Maintaining
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Use keyword research tools for SEO: Utilize keyword research tools to optimize your content for search engine optimization (SEO). These tools help you identify relevant keywords and phrases to incorporate into your website and social media content. By optimizing your content, you can improve your online visibility and reputation.
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Lean into trust marketing: Embrace trust marketing to shape your online message and reputation. Capture customer feedback that aligns with your value proposition, distribute it to your audience, and shape the narrative about your business. Trust marketing focuses on building trust through the words of your customers, as their reviews are often more trusted than traditional advertisements.
Implementing these strategies may take time, but they are essential for managing your online reputation effectively. By following a 6-month timeline, you can gradually incorporate these strategies into your business operations and see improvements in your online reputation.
In conclusion, managing your business’ online reputation requires a comprehensive approach that involves monitoring, generating, engaging, and maintaining your online presence. By implementing these strategies, you can enhance your brand image, improve the customer experience, and ultimately build a great reputation online.
