When was the last time you checked your brand’s online reputation?
Do you know what people are saying about your brand?
Why does any of this matter?
The prevalence of social media and online review platforms provides opportunities for people to talk about your SMB. The information these individuals share impacts both your brand and bottom line.
Your brand’s online reputation affects how you attract customers, build trust and improve the public perception of your brand. As a result, you want your reputation to be as positive as possible to maximize your success both online and in the real world.
Learn some best practices for managing your online reputation.
Set goals
Clarify the goals you want to achieve for your online reputation:
- Ensure your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART).
- Set one or two long-term brand goals and smaller short-term goals for advertising campaigns.
- Maintain your brand goals unless your business model changes.
- Rotate your ad campaign goals according to your brand’s needs.
Clarify your brand’s strengths and weaknesses
Determine where your brand excels and where it needs improvement. Understanding these areas helps maintain a positive online reputation.
- Focus on what your brand does better than the competition. Emphasize how customers have a better experience by doing business with you rather than another business.
- Identify your obstacles to success, such as a small budget or lack of time. Find ways to overcome these issues and improve your online reputation.
- Maintain a thorough understanding of your target audience and competition. Focus on continuously resolving customer pain points and adding value to their lives.
- Pay attention to what is happening within your industry. Make business changes that align with changes in your industry.
Connect with your audience on social media
Create social media content that earns the trust of your target audience. Emphasize these characteristics:
- Transparency
- Honesty
- Friendliness
- Helpfulness
Map your content strategy
Maintain a list of your current web pages, posts and targeted keywords for each. Keep a separate list of content to create at a set time.
- Use these lists to rank for topics and keywords relevant to your brand’s online reputation and success.
- Look at your competition’s content to determine which topics to create content around and keywords to use.
- Create valuable, reliable content to benefit your target audience.
- Share your content on relevant platforms to increase visibility, website traffic and conversions.
Respond to customer reviews
Answer customer reviews as quickly as possible:
- Thank the customer for sharing their opinion.
- Mention something the customer said in their review.
- Address any problems mentioned.
- Share the steps being taken to resolve any issues.
Monitor your brand’s online reputation
Pay attention to how your brand is perceived online. Resolve any issues before they get bigger.
- Sign up for Google Alerts about your brand.
- Track news and media mentions of your brand.
- Focus on social media platforms, online review sites, forums and other sites where your brand may be mentioned.
Looking for help with managing your brand’s online reputation?
Take control of what customers are saying about you. BARQAR’s online reputation management services make it effortless to improve your online ratings. Start the process today!
