Business Reputation Management Online

Keep your Brand Consistent and Preserve your Reputation Online

People love to over analyse these days, especially online. They study what you write like FBI profilers, looking for anything that could be harmful to your business. It sounds like the work of an evil journalist, twisting a celeb’s words to get their next big headline, but they often do it without thinking.

With social media, any customer who isn’t 100% happy with your product or service can make their voice heard, and if they find people who agree your reputation online can plummet very quickly.

How does this affect a business?

Imagine you are a retailer and one of your products was faulty and had to be recalled. Your customers will want refunds and compensation, naturally. Even then you will have still wasted their time: the worst thing a business can do. One customer could take to social media to warn others about the faulty item. Even if they don’t say it directly, other potential or existing customers could now think twice about even visiting your store, thus harming your business. Many social media users like to jump on the bandwagon, and suddenly a list of every fault your store has (some of which might not even be true!) is circulating the internet.

‘This can happen to any business or brand…’

I admit I chose the most common example, but many business owners don’t know that this sort of thing can happen to any business or brand, no matter the size. If you share a post on your official social media accounts that can be misconstrued as untrue or even patronising, it can cause harm to your business. Losing just one customer is something you should work hard to avoid.

How does it work?

Just like how good content improves your SEO rating, bad, out-of-date, or ill-informed content can be just as easily picked up by Google’s algorithms. Remember, people love scandal and will read any that catches their eye. Bad reviews and social media outcry are all detected and will circle back to your site and business.

How to avoid this

Online Reputation Management (ORM) is the art of preserving your brand to avoid these unfortunate mishaps. Writing malicious or misleading content seems like an obvious thing to avoid doing. However, since everything can be overanalysed it’s crucial that you proof read and double-check every piece of content to spot any unintentional hidden meanings. Having experienced content and social media managers on the team is worthwhile for larger operations and learning how to do it yourself is essential for smaller businesses.

‘Your online reputation lasts forever.’

According to a study by BIA Kelsey, 97% of people read online reviews when looking for a local business. It may feel cheap but pushing your existing customers to leave reviews will help bury any lower ratings. Very few people leave positive reviews without prompting, whereas if someone is annoyed, they’re much quicker to make their voice heard.

On the internet, your online reputation lasts forever. One search can unearth controversy no matter how long ago it happened.

Consistency is key

The main thing to remember when writing content is consistency. Keep your work to a high standard, even down to the smallest social media posts. Letting the quality of the content decline can spiral fast, so read it all carefully and get input from others if you’re unsure.

As always, I hope this was useful, and will help keep your business’s glowing reputation intact.