Close
(0) items
You have no items in your shopping cart.
All Categories
    Filters
    Preferences
    Search

    How important is online reputation management to your business?

    How important is online reputation management to your business?

    No matter whether you have brick and mortar locations or whether you are strictly an online merchant, your business depends on its Internet profile to generate leads and sales. Product and site reviews and social media comments are critical to your success. With that in mind, you'll need to become acutely aware of what people are saying about you online. While you can't control what is said, you can take action to mitigate damages caused by bad reviews or comments, managing your reputation in the process.

    What is Reputation Management?

    Reputation management is a form of public relations that involves influencing your own (or your business') reputation online. There is some question as to the ethics behind reputation management. Paying for positive reviews that haven't been earned, for example, is considered black hat and unethical. So is the concept of censoring or deleting negative complaints, in those cases where you have the power to do so.

    Responding to honest reviews, addressing customer service issues, and making your actions public is ethical reputation management. The information you receive will not only help you to address concerns with your customers and potential customers, further strengthening your brand and reputation as an authority in your field. While your goal is always to strengthen the positive view of your company, you must address the negative views without doing anything the public would consider shady.

    Why Is Reputation Management Important?

    If you're an authority in your field, you'll want to make sure people can take you seriously. I can think of two major examples of this in recent years. The first example involved a well-known individual who had created a popular sharing website - both of which shall remain nameless. At a convention, said individual gave a presentation during which his audience determined he was using outdated information. Thanks to cell phones and Twitter, talk of his presentation went viral - during the presentation itself - and not for good reason. Within days, this individual's name had been smeared on major tech websites around the web and a quick Google search for his name no longer yielded results pointing to his own websites and profiles. His results were now marred with links to websites and blogs talking about his major social mistake.

    The second example I wish to present, also true, is the story of an online cooking magazine on which an editor had reprinted a writer's article and recipe without permission. The writer contacted the magazine upon finding her article reprinted and asked for compensation. The editor told the writer that all information on the web is public domain (which we all know is FALSE) and proceeded to tell her that she was "lucky" they had published her work because it needed "too much editing." After one blog post from the original article creator, the story went viral and spread like wildfire throughout the writing community. By the time things died down, a Google search for the name of that particular magazine yielded pages upon pages of links to blog posts and articles about the editor and her mistakes. That particular magazine ended up taking down its website and social media pages because they could not handle the backlash.

    What Can You Do to Manage Your Online Reputation?

    In both of the above examples, the parties in question weren't paying much attention to what was happening to their brands and reputations online. The first may not have had a fighting chance, but the second could have acknowledged her mistake and mitigated some of the damage. Both have been (or currently are) most likely spending a great deal of time and money attempting to create a positive image to counter their mistakes.

    Some of the things you can do to manage your reputation online are as follows:

    • Make sure your social media profiles are complete with the proper company or brand name, business address, and contact information. Let your audience know you're available to answer questions or address concerns.
    • Monitor social media sites. You don't necessarily have to build a profile on every social media site out there, but you should know that your audience is spread out over all of the major sites - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram - and they will talk about you wherever they can. You'll need to have someone dedicated to social media to not only build your profiles but watch for interaction and comments from your audience.
    • Check your Google search results regularly - at least once per month. Doing so can help you not only to see where you stand in general, but to find negative reviews as well. If you do find something negative, contact the creator and ask if you can do anything to help. At the very least, create a comment or response explaining your side of the story.
    • Be patient and proactive. Take special care to ensure all of your employees are trained on the proper use of social media. Make sure they know what they can and cannot say in social situations to avoid misunderstandings and damage to your brand.

    Reputation management can be tricky and most people never think of it. Don't wait until you have a damaging situation to take action, though. The stronger your brand is to begin with, the easier it will be to counter negativity and remain positive.

    About the Author: Loria Strimple works from a SOHO office rental and manages her own growing social media firm. She loves helping businesses learn to better manage their reputations and brands.

    Leave your comment