The Basics of Online Reputation Management
is a platform for local businesses to manage their reputations and customer experiences. In addition to managing online reputation, getting more reviews, engaging prospects, improving customer experience, and growing sales, more than 90,000 businesses use Birdeye.The management of a company’s online reputation is crucial. It only takes a few negative reviews and comments to ruin your online reputation and lead to customers going elsewhere. The importance of an online reputation management strategy cannot be overstated. Throughout this article, we will discuss what online reputation management is, why it’s important, and how to get started.
What is Online Reputation Management?
Online reputation management (ORM) involves monitoring, managing, and improving a business’s online reputation. It includes positive and negative online content about your business, such as social media, online reviews, and news articles. It is possible to improve visibility, build trust, and repair damaged reputations using an effective online reputation management platform. The importance of managing your online reputation lies in the fact that the first thing people see when searching for your products and services is your online content. Businesses can be damaged by a bad online reputation. It is also possible to succeed online if you have a good reputation. The importance of managing an online reputation for businesses cannot be overstated.
Online Reputation Management: Why Your Business Needs It
An online reputation management solution is a must for any business that has an online presence in today’s digital age. Negative reviews, complaints, and other forms of online criticism can quickly damage a company’s reputation, while positive reviews and endorsements help to increase profits. Here are the top benefits of having a great online reputation:
- Builds trust with prospects and customers. The more positive reviews your business has, the easier it will be to build credibility with customers.
- Improves online visibility for your business. Your customer reviews have a direct impact on how easy it is for people to find your business online. A business’s ranking in online searches improves when customers provide fresh and genuine customer experiences and post positive reviews. Google and other search engines value online reviews just as much as your customers do. This will result in your business ranking higher in relevant search engine results because search engines will prioritize you online.
- Reviews equal revenue. You can have a big impact on your bottom line by getting good online reviews. Customer reviews lead to an average 18% increase in sales, according to studies.
4 Pillars of Reputation Management
It is important to know four key pillars of reputation management if you want to build an enviable reputation for your business.
Here are a few details about each.
Pillar 1: Review Generation
Online reviews are obtained from customers on relevant review sites like Google and Facebook, along with industry-specific ones. The generation of reviews is a vital part of online reputation management that plays a crucial role in acquiring and retaining customers. To start generating reviews, you need to know the “when, where, and how.”
- How? You should actively seek reviews rather than waiting for them to come to you. Every customer should be asked to leave a review. Every new customer, regardless of whether you do this manually or with reputation management software, can be a potential source of new reviews.
- When? Review requests should be sent within 24 hours of a sale or customer interaction. While the experience is still fresh in their minds, they will be more likely to write an accurate, detailed review. The longer you wait, the less likely they are to give a review since their memories will fade.
- Where? Customers discover your business all over the internet, so you need to maintain an online reputation across all channels.
For example, identify the top review sites in your industry and target them. You can build a great online reputation by using industry-specific sites such as Avvo for lawyers, DealerRater for car dealers, and Healthgrades for physicians, hospitals, and healthcare providers.
Pillar 2: Review Monitoring
Your potential customers can consult hundreds of review sites to help them make their decision if they search online for reviews about your business. One bad review can turn customers away from your business altogether and potentially influence how they speak about it to others. Make sure you keep track of every review site on which your business appears.
You can monitor your reviews everywhere online and protect your reputation by keeping track of them. A review management platform allows you to centralize all of those reviews into a simple dashboard where you can monitor and respond to them systematically.
New Review Alerts
Additionally, a review management platform provides you with tools such as alerts to make sure you never miss a single review. With alerts, you will be notified if a review has been left, where it was left, and if it is positive or negative. You can respond to customer feedback immediately with instant review alerts. Particularly in the case of negative reviews, where issues can escalate quickly, this is really helpful.
Pillar 3: Review Management
In this article, we’ll discuss when to respond to your reviews, where to respond, and how to respond to them. A business that acknowledges and addresses customers’ comments and concerns is appreciated by customers. Responding to all reviews, positive or negative, is the best way to achieve this.
Scalable and Timely
The importance of responding quickly to customer reviews cannot be overstated. Your customers will often write off your business as dismissive if they don’t receive a prompt response to their reviews. Customers expect a response to their reviews within one to three days, according to one in three.
Non-response Costs
A business that does not respond to reviews, especially negative ones, can cause a snowball effect in which customers leave reviews, feel unappreciated, and spread the word that your business doesn’t care about them. The unanswered reviews will also inform potential customers about your version of the events, so they will inevitably form opinions based on the unanswered reviews. A negative online reputation can be extremely damaging to your business.
Responses Generated Automatically
Automation integrated with a review management platform can help you keep track of the reviews you receive and respond to them quickly. As soon as a review is submitted, you can respond directly. Your responses can also be tailored to specific criteria, so you always leave the right response.
Pillar 4: Review Marketing
Before choosing a business, we read reviews. Informed buying decisions can be made based on prior customer experiences. You can use positive reviews in your marketing messages and campaigns.
Displaying Customer Testimonials
Your website, social media, and search results can be amplified to build trust and win new customers. To showcase positive customer experiences, you can embed your reviews on your website and display them on social media channels. More positive reviews you have, the more people will trust your product or service.
Social Media
By using a pre-configured tool, you can promote your best reviews on your social handles, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, through an online reputation management platform.
Website
Online reputation management platforms allow you to embed your company’s latest and greatest reviews in real-time onto your website. This will allow anyone visiting your site to see firsthand what others have to say about you. If you have testimonials from satisfied customers, you’ll have no problem convincing even the most skeptics.
Paid Advertising
A customer review can be a powerful tool for improving your advertising campaigns. Prospective customers trust the testimonies of other customers about your company, as we discussed earlier. For example, incorporating the best reviews into your Google ad campaign can lead to higher quality scores. A display of positive customer reviews can also increase click-through rates because potential customers are more likely to click on an ad that is endorsed by other users.A display of positive customer reviews can also increase click-through rates because potential customers are more likely to click on an ad that is endorsed by other users.
Making the best use of all these methods will further amplify the impact of a single, new review. As well as in-person meetings, social media, your website, paid advertising, and Google searches, you can reach prospects wherever they can find you.
The Important Role of Online Reputation Management Software
In a growing business, reputation management can become overwhelming if there aren’t dedicated resources available.
Technology can help in this situation. It is possible to automate many of the tasks associated with managing your business’s reputation through online reputation management software. Your business can benefit from this time and energy saved.
Software for reputation management can help you keep track of competitor reviews, respond to reviews, and request reviews from customers. Investing in software like this can simplify the expansion process if your business is expanding.
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