Your online reputation should be a top priority.
It’s no surprise nowadays that your company’s online reputation is increasingly being defined by how your customers describe their experience with your products and services—especially in online channels and social media. People are 12 times more likely to listen to customer reviews than to your marketing messages. These postings have become more influential than ever in impacting your brand. Positive feedback is obviously welcome—but how can you defend your reputation against negative or even false statements?
Here are several ways to position your company optimally online:
Create original content
Developing a blog, video series, podcast, whitepapers, or other forms of informative content helps establish you as a thought leader and authority. Avoid being overt with any sales message. Your content should provide authentic information that can solve a problem or enlighten your audiences.
Google yourself regularly
Stay up-to-date on what is being said about your company, executive leadership, popular products, and even close competitors. Also see what other popular search engines, such as Bing or Yahoo, return on these searches as well. You’ll be able to spot any potential problems ahead of time and address them before they become serious issues.
Accept negative comments
When possible, acknowledge negative or less-than-kind feedback from customers on popular review forums or social media channels. Don’t be defensive—identify the shortcoming and make an earnest attempt to make things right. You’ll gain respect from others who will see that you are choosing to address the problem instead of ignoring it.
Learn other steps to maintain and enhance your online reputation in our “Online Reputation Management” eBook. This brief but highly valuable resource provides five practical ways to pre-empt and/or handle various scenarios, and turn potentially unpleasant situations into opportunities to enhance your brand. Download it for free today.
