Your online reputation is one of the most important things you have. It can make or break your business, and it can be the deciding factor in whether or not someone becomes a customer.
Therefore, we give you 6 ways to influence your reputation and strengthen the connection with your target audience.
What is reputation management?
Reputation management is the process of monitoring and managing your online presence and public image.
It is important to have a good reputation online, as it can make or break businesses.
A negative review may seem harmless, but the consequences can be enormous. Customers can lose trust, as can management and other stakeholders.
Your company’s reputation directly affects sales, which is why it is important to invest in good reputation management.
Why is reputation management important?
Reputational damage can have serious consequences, so it is important to take steps to protect yourself.
You only get one chance for a positive first impression, and negative images can scare away potential customers.
And once your public trust is damaged, it can be very difficult to repair.
So take proactive steps to protect your good name and invest in reputation management. There are a number of ways to do this and we will explain some of them.
Getting started with reputation management: how do you manage your online reputation?
Good. A positive online reputation does take some time and effort. Below we provide 6 tips to positively impact your online reputation.
1. Monitor your online presence regularly
Structurally monitoring your online presence is one of the most important things you can do to protect your reputation.
By keeping track of what is being said about you online, you can take steps to address any negative comments or articles before they have a chance to damage your reputation.
There are a number of ways to monitor your online presence, including:
- Maintaining mentions of your business on social media channels
- Blogs and opinion sites check for any mention of you or your company
- Check Google search results for negative articles or reviews of your business
- Analyzing sentiment analysis data to see how people are talking about you online
- Watching changes in your website’s organic search results
Do you find a negative article or review about yourself online? Then don’t panic. Take a deep breath and tackle the problem calmly. There are a few things you can do:
- Contact the website owner or author to have the article removed (at least if it’s not accurate)
- Respond publicly to the comments and try to resolve the issue publicly. Dealing with negative comments on social media is not easy, but with the right tactics, it can actually benefit your organization greatly.
It’s important to always have a good understanding of the issues among your target audiences. With a social media reputation management monitoring tool, you can structurally monitor your reputation and get a good view of the messaging.
Many of these tools also help you keep an eye on offline media.
2. Respond quickly and professionally to (negative) comments
Responding quickly shows your commitment to your online channels. It adds great value because it gives your organization a reliable picture.
Always respond to positive comments (because the social media algorithm likes that), but be sure not to ignore negative comments either. This way you can influence perception.
It is essential not to be carried away by negative comments.
3. Build relationships with your target audience
Online reputation management includes investing in a positive online presence. Make sure your public trust is high and that your organization has a positive image through online channels.
Create valuable content on various topics and ensure good communication between you and your target audience. For your target audience, it’s a way to get closer to your organization.
Tell great stories about your product, ask your customers for their opinions and keep them informed of the latest developments.
4. Make use of omnichannel software
Omnichannel software is a great way to stay on top of all your customer interactions, regardless of platform.
By using omnichannel software, you can connect all of your customer channels in one view, making it easier to track and respond to customer inquiries.
Steam-connect lets you see all your customer interactions in one place, making it easier to identify and resolve any customer issues. You get a complete picture of your target audience and can influence their assessment.
5. Set up Google Alerts
Another smart way of online reputation management is to set up Google Alerts. Allows you to receive notifications when someone mentions your business online.
This allows you to quickly respond to any negative comments or reviews.
6. Encourage positive reviews
You can also improve your reputation by encouraging customers to leave a positive review. Reviews are the number one trigger for consumers to buy a product, so this is very low-hanging fruit.
You can do this by asking customers to leave positive reviews on popular review sites such as Klantenvertellen and Google Reviews.
You can also offer incentives for customers to leave positive reviews, such as discounts or coupons.
How do you measure your online reputation?
One way to measure your online reputation is to look at emotional indicators. Do people feel good about your organization? Are they happy with the products and services you offer?
Another way to measure your reputation is to look at brand reputation. Is your brand name associated with positive things? Do people online talk positively about you?
Also, you can also measure your online reputation by looking at how people feel. Do they have a good emotional connection with your organization? Do they feel comfortable with the products and services you offer?
Indicators
In the world of reputation management, there are a number of indicators that say something about your reputation. Which one you use depends on your goals.
However, the more indicators you use, the more complete your picture. What is especially important is to be consistent in your measurement so that your comparisons are fair.
Below we describe several indicators.
Share of volume
The share of volume measures the awareness of your brand in the marketplace. It is calculated by dividing the total number of brand mentions by the total number of mentions online. This gives you a percentage that indicates how much of the conversation online is about your brand
To calculate your share of voice, compare the number of posts about your organization to the number of posts about your competitors. This indicator shows how well your company is doing online against your competitors.
Sentiment Analysis
A sentiment analysis is used to determine whether a message expresses a positive, negative or neutral opinion. Messages classified as containing no value judgment are considered neutral.
The relationship between the three types of messages can give you insight into what people think of your organization over time. If a negative shift suddenly occurs, it may be an indication that you need to take action.
How does reputation management work in practice?
When it comes to online reputation management, customer service is key. By monitoring and responding to customer feedback, you can ensure that any negative sentiment is minimized.
But it can be difficult to keep track of all your interactions.
By using a tool like Steam-connect, you can see all your customer interactions in one place. This makes it easier to identify and resolve any customer problems.
Reputation management: ongoing business
Reputation management is the practice of monitoring and managing your organization’s reputation. This uses various indicators to measure how people think about you online.
Your online behavior can affect your reputation, and you have the greatest influence on that. After all, you can paint a desired picture and manage customer expectations.
Reputation management is an ongoing process that requires vigilance and effort.
By monitoring your online presence and responding to customer feedback, you can ensure that any negative sentiment is minimized. Reputation management is essential for businesses in today’s digital age, where a single negative review can have a devastating impact.
