Your brand’s reputation online is essential to its success in the market. A well-maintained corporate reputation can be a sign of trust among employees, investors, and even customers. Maintaining your brand’s image is important for prolonged success, and that is only possible with online reputation management.
It is unfortunately common for companies to first face a major PR crisis before they think about implementing a corporate reputation management strategy. Fortunately, that does not have to be the case with you as you grow your business. Here are a few ways that you can better manage your reputation online.
Focus On Promoting Positivity through Online Interactions
One of the fastest ways that you can burn off any goodwill from customers and investors is to have a negative attitude online. Trolling or coming off as dismissive can make people feel less valued and will then associate your brand with negative emotions. Furthermore, for a more robust corporate reputation management policy, you should show off your reviews and testimonials.
Companies can also promote positivity online by sharing positive reviews online and thanking the customer for their kind words. Not only does this make them feel valued, but it also lets them know that the firm is paying attention to their needs.
Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews
Companies can also encourage their customers to leave a review online if they enjoyed the product or service. This lets customers feel more involved, but it can also help maintain a positive image of the firm online. Positive reviews can do a lot more than just influence customer behaviour; they can also receive a boost from Google.
While these reviews are obviously a major advantage for any company, very few customers are likely to leave a review. Even if they had a very positive experience with the company in question, that positivity will never translate into a review. Therefore, you can send a quick reminder to your customers to leave a review or offer an incentive for leaving a review.
Invest In a Good PR Team
Having a good PR team can go a long way to ensuring that you do not have to worry about watching your company’s reputation circle the drain. These PR teams not only handle an online reputation crisis, but they can also prevent one through a stream of consistent positive press. The press that they generate can take the form of interviews with company executives, guest posts, sponsorships, branded events, podcast appearances, charitable events, and so much more.
Not only do they make sure that your company is well received online, but that even people uninterested in the company have not heard a bad thing about it.
Effectively Use SEO
SEO can also be useful in corporate reputation management, but the strategy surrounding it can differ significantly. While companies will often use SEO to boost their pages on a search engine, corporate PR will often boost pages from other trusted websites to ensure that no bad press makes its way to the top. Not only does this allow companies to better maintain their image, but it can also go a long way in reducing the likelihood that customers will learn about negative incidents associated with their brand.
Along with SEO, other advertising tricks can include influencer marketing or staying active on all of the major social media websites.
Engage with Comments, Even Negative Ones
Another good way that companies can better manage their corporate reputation online is by engaging with the comments, even if they are negative. Companies need to show that they care about their customers, which they can only do by responding to comments that they have left on posts. Some of those comments will be good and positive, while others can be mean and disheartening. Of course, it is important that trolls do not get a response, but people who have complaints or criticisms about the service or product deserve an answer. And by engaging with them, companies can greatly hold up their corporate image.
Monitor Mentions of Your Brand Online
To further ensure that your brand is not stuck in a controversy, you should regularly monitor and check the responses that it is getting online. A celebrity that has a less than favorable personality might try to associate themselves with your brand. In this type of situation, you will need to distance yourself from that influencer immediately.
You will also need to check if YouTubers are making certain types of content about your brand; you should be ready to respond. Issuing a DMCA or copyright strike can take down the video, but it could lead to some serious backlash. Therefore, it is best to respond to the creator in their video specifically.
Perform a Brand Audit
Finally, a good way to maintain your corporate image is by conducting a brand audit. You will often need to hire an outside party that will consider your company’s online presence. This can include all sorts of your social media profiles, business profiles, blogs, and websites. They will also look at what comes up on Google when people search for your name and related key phrases. After considering all of these factors, they will give you a report of how well you fare compared to other businesses.
Why Managing a Good Brand Reputation is Important?
Managing a good brand reputation allows a company to garner goodwill, which can, in turn, contribute to a much better presence online. This better presence online can ripple into better sales, a more trusting relationship with customers, and even brand loyalty. In fact, brand loyalty is possibly the most important reason why maintaining your brand reputation is essential.
Conclusion
Good corporate reputation management online can be difficult, but it is not impossible. Better yet, focusing on improving your brand’s reputation can go a long way to helping you maintain customer loyalty. In some cases, the benefits of properly maintaining your reputation online far outweigh any costs that you may incur. And when especially compared with potential losses, you will be glad that you paid for a good PR team instead.Â