Your company’s online reputation is vital to the success of your business. This is because a whopping 85 percent of buyers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations. Furthermore, 60 percent of customers say that negative feedback may drive them away from a business, while 49 percent need a rating of at least 4 out of 5 before choosing to do business. If there is any take away point to remember when looking at these numbers, it’s that a company’s online reputation significantly influences prospects’ buying decisions, and there is a clear need to win – and keep – your customers’ trust.
What is Online Reputation?
Online reputation refers to how people perceive you or your brand online. Some of the factors that affect online reputation are online reviews, press content, comments, and forum posts. Review pages like Yelp, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and TripAdvisor publish consumers’ honest opinions and reflect a company’s online reputation. Proper online reputation management requires that you monitor these regularly, generate more reviews and respond to feedback appropriately. Many companies invest in online reputation management software or hire professionals to handle this seemingly daunting responsibility. Also Visit: Advance Digital Marketing Course In DelhiHow Important is Online Reputation Management?
The majority of consumers don’t buy products right away. They spend time researching the product and reading online reviews. In fact, buyers read approximately seven reviews before trusting a company, and that’s why your business needs a significant amount of positive feedback to win customers over. Luckily, one of the priorities of online reputation management is collecting quality reviews for your brand. Online reputation management (ORM) and online reputation management tools help amplify the potential of your internet marketing efforts. According to a Harvard Business School working paper, a business can raise its revenue by up to nine percent for every additional 1-star Yelp rating. If you’re constrained from reaching out and asking for reviews from every customer you’ve had, you might want to consider hiring an agency to do this for you regularly. These professionals can contact your previous customers and continue to do so with your future buyers. Having 5-star reviews may say a lot about your company, but it isn’t the only thing consumers look for in a brand. They are also interested in how companies respond to reviews and comments. If you’re worried about getting negative coverage online, your fears aren’t unfounded. Bad reviews can have high rankings and can be damaging to your brand identity. On the flip side, with the right approach, you can utilize negative reviews to establish a favorable narrative about your company’s trustworthiness and customer-centric approach. Professionals can effectively manage your brand perception risk at speed. Low ratings, when unmanaged, affect conversion rates. A company’s 1- to 2-star ratings couldn’t possibly convert 86 percent of potential customers. The impact is even worse for startups who are still struggling to build their momentum – imagine negative reviews hitting your conversion rates hard before your business even has a chance to take off. In this sense, consumers’ trust can truly make or break your business. While we cannot prevent everyone from posting negative reviews online, online reputation management mitigates the effects a stream of negative public opinion may have on a brand. By responding appropriately to customer complaints and resolving their issues, you may appease unhappy customers and gain new ones, building trust and credibility in the process. You can streamline your online reputation management operations using reputation management software and a dedicated team to monitor, respond to and drive online reviews. Ninety-four percent of businesses that used online reputation management software to support their online reputation management strategies say they are able to get a good return on their investment. Here are just some of the things reputation management software can do for your business:- It exposes online feedback and reviews from various online channels and third-party publishers.
- It personalizes your interactions with your customers.
- It allows you to build and manage your customer database.
- It makes a more convenient and more cost-efficient way of responding to customer reviews and feedback.
When Should You Review Your Business’s Online Reputation?
Online reputation management is not a once-off task. It also isn’t something you schedule every year or every quarter. Your online reputation needs to be continuously monitored, preferably by a dedicated team, such as your marketing, online operations or customer service staff. It may be challenging to do this day in, day out, but that’s how you really make this process work for you. The key to successful online reputation management is consistency. It can be challenging to stay on top of your online reputation, as it requires ongoing attention and consistent efforts to respond to and generate more online reviews. These reviews are also posted on many channels and platforms, and it can be quite tedious to monitor them manually. Without the right tools and process, it’s too easy to miss an online review. Nowadays, several agencies provide professional review management and review response services. Aside from getting reputation management software, businesses can hire these agencies to help safeguard their brand identity. You won’t have to stress yourself out over a negative online review. You can trust these professionals to effectively respond and ensure you retain your positive brand image. When consumers see your company express genuine concern over customer complaints, they end up with a better appreciation of your brand.Final Thoughts
Online reputation management should never be treated as an afterthought. For a company to be ahead of the curve, it should stay as visible online as possible. How you appear or how your brand is perceived is extremely important – and ORM is the tool that can raise your social proof and improve your brand perception. After all, it’s no secret that customers in the digital age are highly informed, so publishing trustworthy, high-quality information and relevant reviews will effectively position your brand for long-term success. Professional online review management services and online reputation management software can help you forge a brand identity that conveys customer commitment, trustworthiness, leadership, integrity and quality. And this is precisely the kind of company your customers want to do business with long-term.
