The 10 Commandments of Online Reputation Management
One can argue that your online reputation can be simply regarded as your reputation. After all, we are in the digital age and almost all consumers turn to the internet for information. Hence, you put most of your focus on your image on the internet. In fact, many businesses choose to only do online reputation management and allot no budget for managing their real-world reputation.
If you are planning to formulate and deploy your own online reputation management strategy, make sure that you take the 10 commandments below into account.
1. Become Well Respected
This is the most important of all. You cannot establish a good online reputation if no one respects your brand. Keep in mind that trust is a perishable asset. It will eventually exhaust itself if you do nothing to preserve it. So do not engage in shady deals and activities and only do things by the book.
2. Monitor What People are Saying About You
A huge majority of consumers use social media. So make sure you have the ability to monitor what people are saying about your brand and your products on social media. Most people nowadays immediately turn to social media to ask their connections about a business they are not familiar with. Only when they can’t find an answer on social media will they resort to doing a Google search.
- React Quickly and Politely
Reply to complaints, especially those posted publicly on your website or social media profiles, as soon as possible. A simple “We are aware of the problem and working on it. We will get back to you as soon as we have an update.” is far better than a late reply no matter how much more information that reply has. You can use chatbots to automate your first reply to complaints.
- Address Criticism Properly
When controversy strikes, make sure you respond appropriately. Make sure you acknowledge the existence of the problem and thank the critics for bringing it to your attention. Reassure everyone that you are working on finding a satisfactory solution.
5. Be Radically Transparent
It’s almost impossible to keep a secret nowadays. So if a legitimate issue about your company surfaces, don’t just try to bury it and hope people forget about it soon. Make a public statement about the reality of the situation and what you are doing to fix the problem. Post regular updates on the status of the problem so the public does not have to turn to other, sometimes dubious, sources to get information.
- Treat your GMB Page 1 as Your Business Card
Optimize the first page of your Google My Business to the fullest extent. It will likely be the first thing a consumer will find when using Google to search for information about your company. First impressions count, so make sure your GMB page is convincing.
- Understand Your Detractors
Not everyone who criticizes your brand hopes to bring you down. Some critics sincerely want your business to become even better. So if a criticism is proven to not come from a competitor or a fraudulent source, make sure you are fully aware of why you are being criticized. Use it as a chance to learn more about your audience and what they want.
- Attack Your Illegitimate Attackers
It is not uncommon for a successful business to become the target of illegal behavior. When this happens, do not simply ignore it. Do not be afraid to fire employees who exhibit behavior that is damaging to your brand. And do not be afraid to sue anyone who spreads misinformation about your brand.
- Learn from Your Mistakes
It is not enough to simply recover from a mistake. It is essential that you also take the necessary steps to make sure that mistake never happens again. So after you’ve overcome a mistake and stabilized your company, you should take the time to analyze what led to that mistake along with what could have been done better.
- Ask for Help if Necessary
If managing your online reputation has become too complicated or if you’ve found yourself in a Public Relations nightmare you don’t think you can get out of on your own, consider hiring a professional to help you out. If you don’t simply want to repair your damaged reputation but also want to reinforce it, check us out at Integrity Reputation Marketing.
Contact us today so we can schedule a call between you and our CEO Mike Turner. We only deal with ONE CLIENT PER CITY so you can rest assured that you have our full, unbridled support. For more consistency and no negativity, visit Integrity Reputation Marketing. We capitalize on trust, integrity, and reputation to establish your online presence.
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