Building a successful brand requires years of hard work. It involves adopting a focused strategy to develop an impressive online reputation. The online scene presents a more dynamic space. It is easier to share information. This includes both positive and negative opinions about your brands. Experts argue that it is easier to resolve issues with customers before they reach an open public forum such as the internet.
The cost of a bad online reputation
Most people result to public forums when they feel their grievances are not addressed and they wish to warn consumers about your brands. A deterioration of your online reputation can have a devastating impact on the business’ bottom line. A proactive strategy ensures you build on the goodwill you have created online to grow your brands. It helps you avoid costly processes to repair your reputation and mitigate against revenue loss.
Business executives who adopt a neutral strategy without an online presence also run the risk of destroying their reputation quickly. When there are no digital assets to counter bad press, it spreads faster as there is no information to counter it. In like manner, an ineffective social media strategy can have disturbing effects on your brands.
Luckily, there are steps you can take to ensure your online reputation stays impressive. Let us look at how to leverage online reputation for growth.
1. Establish an extensive online presence
A business should have a website, a blog and a presence on the mainstream social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and Instagram among others. Numerous online forums cater to niche markets in particular industries. Sites such as LinkedIn empower business executives to publish and share their brand portfolios as well as management experience.
2. Adopt a proactive strategy towards social media
Merely having an online presence is not sufficient. Develop an audience and strive to keep them engaged on an ongoing basis. Build a plan to increase awareness about your brands, resolve arising customer issues and influence your followers. Create and populate the accounts before negative reviews hit. Monitor the posts of people close to the business. This includes management executives, employees, business associates and related brand ambassadors.
3. Protect your brands and business associates
Create separate online profiles for your brands, its ambassadors, and business associates. Reserve each brand name at every level of online real estate. Develop captivating and engaging content that aligns them with the overall business strategy. Flesh out the online profiles of key brand representatives including executive management. Build as much positive content as possible and mobilize positive reviews from your customers.
4. Leverage digital marketing
Refine your digital marketing strategies to complement your reputation management efforts. This includes tactics such as video and email marketing, SEO and blogging among others. Correctly implement authorship of your online content especially if you are the founder-owner. It aligns you as an online authority on your company. Regularly update your blogs and social media channels with new content.
5. Quickly respond to customer feedback
Consumers are increasingly adopting the justice delayed is justice denied attitude. Respond to queries, opinions and online reviews as soon as possible. Listen to online complaints to understand the concerns being raised. Review your internal processes to increase customer satisfaction. Make authentic apologies for honest mistakes and reconcile with the affected. Adopt a professional response strategy that keeps emotions out of your online interactions. Respond to negative as well as positive online reviews.
Conclusion
Over two-thirds of global consumers trust online reviews. Make online reputation management an integral part of your digital marketing strategy. It empowers you to deal with bad press around your brands before it destroys them. Professional reputation management experts such as Aaron Minc can help you recover from online defamation and rebuild your good standing. He is a highly experienced internet defamation attorney based in Ohio. He suggests embracing a proactive reputation management strategy to grow your brands online.
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