When you are running a business, your reputation means everything. What is reputation management and how does it affect the success of your business? What tips can you use to have a greater degree of control over the reputation of your business, product, and customer service? These are the points that will be addressed in this post, and we feel you will find this information useful for increasing your success in the business world.
What is Reputation Management?
Times are not the same today as they were just a couple of short decades ago. The internet is now in the hands of just about every man, woman, and child via smartphones and other electronic devices. More people than ever before also have a computer or laptop in their home. This is ideal for quick and easy access to information that we all may need on a daily basis. However, it also means that negative information or bad reviews can travel quickly. Just one unsatisfied customer can potentially affect the opinions of countless potential customers with the click of a button.
For these reasons and several others, managing your reputation is no longer an optional business strategy. Even if your type of business relies mostly on referrals or word of mouth, learning how to protect and enhance your reputation is a vital step to ensuring your success. Not to mention and with reputation management, search engine optimization and social media for hand in hand.
Below we are going to cover seven fantastic tips that will help you perfect your reputation and keep it protected in the years to come.
#1 Create a Unique Presence for Your Business
Whether you’re a personal fan of social media or not, most of the people out there who are customers or will become customers are using these platforms on a daily basis. At an absolute bare minimum, your business should have an active account on the following social media platforms if you want to keep a competitive edge:
- Linked In
- Google+
If your business offers products that have visual appeal, it may also be wise for you to have an active Pinterest account. Many businesses that provide detailed services or products that can be demonstrated can also benefit hugely from maintaining a Youtube channel. For example, a cosmetics company can benefit greatly by uploading regular videos that discuss various products and application techniques. This keeps customers engaged and provides a fun platform for them to gain additional information on the products you offer.
How does having a unique presence relate to managing your reputation? There will be times when opening yourself up via having active social media accounts may mean that you receive negative comments in public forums. Why would you want to leave yourself vulnerable to that? For one, these things are a fact of life for all business owners. How you handle those negative comments will make a huge impression on viewers. Turning these negatives into a positive is possible on social media platforms, which builds your credibility and garners respect from potential customers.
#2 Rock Your Social Media
Once your social media accounts are active, don’t just leave them alone! Make regular posts and update information often. Make sure it is engaging content that provides a useful benefit to the individuals who follow it. There are now numerous types of software programs that can help you run your social media accounts smoothly, as well as provide you with statistics to judge what type of content is most appealing to your followers. Use these platforms to engage with your customers and followers on Twitter and other social media channels. Answer their questions, respond to their comments, and thank them for their positive reviews.
When you receive negative comments, and you will from to time, handle them gracefully and with respect to the customer who feels dissatisfied. By handling complaints in this manner, you protect your reputation and remind potential customers that even though you are not perfect, you have their best interests at heart.
#3 Operate a Blog
You may feel that running a blog is unnecessary. It’s true that you can be successful without a blog, but there are several good reasons to take the time to manage one properly. Perhaps the most important of these reasons is that having a company blog boosts your ranking within search engine results. This is because search engines highly favor companies that operate blogs. Additionally, a blog will allow you to add helpful content that can be search engine optimized with keywords that help you rank higher in online searches.
How does operating a blog tie into managing your reputation? Like social media platforms, blogs allow your viewers to make direct comments on your posts, allowing you countless opportunities to engage with them. This means you will get negative comments from time to time, but it allows you to show other potential customers that you have excellent problem-solving skills and will right any wrongs that occur.
#4 Listen and Engage
Part of running a successful business is knowing that it is impossible to please everyone at all times. No matter how outstanding your product or service is, you will have negative reviews from time to time. It is how you respond to these reviews that will make all the difference in how others view you and your business. Don’t try to hide or gloss over negative comments or reviews. Use them as an opportunity to engage with your followers and let them know you make every effort to rectify anything that may go wrong.
Try not to get defensive when a customer voices a complaint. All businesses, even the largest and most successful corporations in America, receive complaints. Deal with them in a mature and appropriate manner to show others that you’re humble and trustworthy.
#5 Apologize and Mean It
Expanding a bit on tip #5, it is only human nature to become defensive when someone speaks negatively about your business or products. Avoid becoming defensive and embrace the art of sincerely apologizing for their experience. Many times this immediately puts a customer in a better frame of mind and any issues that did occur can be sorted out with no hard feelings from either side.
#6 Don’t Engage in Debates
There may be many cases where your customer is in the wrong. You will find it is only natural in those instances to argue back in an effort to protect yourself and set matters straight in front of others. The more heated an argument becomes, the more likely you are to say something that you will regret. These types of comments can be impossible to erase, especially if they are made on public forums such as social media profiles.
It is very difficult and takes a great deal of maturity, but it is far better to simply apologize sincerely and shut down any potential debates before they have a chance to damage your reputation.
#7 Take the Time to Invest in Reputation Management
All of these tips can seem like such a daunting task. It takes time and effort to maintain successful social media accounts, engage continually with followers, and consistently provide fresh content that keeps people interested in your company and the products you offer.
It is worth every second you spend cultivating the protection of your reputation as a business. You may eventually want to hire a team of professionals who assist you with maintaining your social media accounts and marketing your business successfully. This will free up more of your time to be spent on the technical aspects of your business while still placing importance on maintaining your reputation.
As we continue to be a society that places emphasis on instant access to information and continual use of social media accounts, the proper management of your reputation as a business owner will continue to be a vital part of your marketing endeavors.
About the Author
For nearly 3 decades, Bill Orth has been helping small and mid-size businesses implement and execute effective marketing strategies for growth.
His successes include leadership positions with some of the most influential marketing and technology based companies like DexMedia, Business.com and SupportLocal. He is also a certified consultant for Denver SEO For Growth Certified SEO Consultant, Duct Tape Marketing, Google AdWords, and a trusted business advisor.
Source: SEO For Growth