It goes without saying that a successful business depends on having a positive reputation. with positive reputation comes great opportunity if one was able to achieve the desire goodwill than he needs to maintain it or ones needs to evaluate his online reputation because ones you loos it than its not that easy to regain it.
”It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
warren Buffett
Customers won’t buy from you if they don’t trust you .However, while a lot of brands have built a reputation in the real world, their online presence doesn’t share the same characteristics. Well, to make it understandable, here’s an example for you to understand the impact of online reputation.
Imagine a bakery chain called “Oven Haven,” known for its delicious and fresh bread. They have multiple locations across the city and a loyal customer base that frequents their stores for breakfast sandwiches and pastries. However, Oven-Haven hasn’t prioritized its online presence.
Now some of you might be thinking that if a company is doing well offline or has a large base of loyal customers, it is not necessary for that organization to do well in the online market, and there is no need for it. Well, you are somewhat right. But it creates the situation of missing the forest for the trees.
a sign that someone ignores the larger market or prospects in favor of concentrating primarily on minor ones. Now I know that some of you are living in the delusion that online marketing is not for us, and the reason behind it is a fear of failure and a worry of being ignored by the target audience.
Well, because of such small things, you are just ignoring a better opportunity.
You are in a state of doubt, and the reason behind it is that you are missing the key ingredient of online marketing, which is how to establish and maintain your online reputation.
It’s like driving your car without tires. This blog explores what online reputation management entails and provides some actionable strategies to help small businesses. But before going any further, let’s first understand what online reputation management is.
What is online reputation management?
Online reputation management (ORM) is a process of monitoring and influencing the online presence of an individual or brand. As more people use the internet to search for information about businesses, products, and services, brands must take control of how they are seen on the web.
Let’s make it simple for you. Imagine your online reputation as your online shop window. People walking by can see what’s on display and form an impression of your business.
Now what O.R.M does is keep your window clean and organized, and you also want people to see the best products (positive reviews, happy customer comments) first. If by any chance you receive a negative response or if someone leaves a bad review (like a broken product in the window), ORM helps you to address that problem so that you can address it and try to fix things. Biscally By managing your online reputation, you’re making sure people have a clear and positive image of you or your business online.
Why does ORM matter for brand growth?
By reading all these, you might be asking yourself if it really all matters because all we have to do is establish proper customer support and respond to the audience’s feedback.
ORM is not only about these penny things; it’s a crucial part of your online business, and the reason behind it is that it’s not just about responding to the audience’s feedback; it’s all about managing the overall presence of your online business from Acting like a translator between your program’s objects and the database’s tables,
and also simplifying data manipulation using CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete) on your objects, letting you add, find, change, and remove information without writing complex SQL queries. To provide abstraction, hide the technical database details behind a user-friendly layer so you can focus on your program’s logic and write cleaner, more maintainable code.
Now After going over all the details, The following advice will help you get started with managing your internet reputation.
Eight Steps to Manage a Brand’s Online Reputation
Evaluate your present internet presence:
It is a very crucial part as it acts as a lifeline for any online or offline business. Basically, the main objective is to see how people view you and your brand or check if there is any problem. By evaluating it, you can easily work on it.
In simple terms, it’s just the digital echo you leave behind—the impression someone gets after searching your name. It’s like your online first impression, shaping how the world sees you.
I know some of you are still confused about it, and if you’re confused about it, so her’s an example to help you
Let’s say you run a boutique clothing store called koka’s clothes .
During a review of customer feedback, you will find numerous positive reviews praising the unique selection and friendly staff. However, you also notice a trend of complaints about long wait times at the checkout counter during peak hours.
With this information, you can proactively improve the customer experience. This might involve hiring additional staff during busy periods, streamlining the checkout process, or offering incentives for customers who wait in line, such as discounts. which eventually led to an increase in customers.
Choose How You Want Your Viewers To See You:
just imagine yourself as a painter and you paint a painting that represents hope, so you paint a guy looking at the sky or a rainbow, and you add lots of details, like the shining eyes of that boy or the facial expressions and the tone of your painting, whether it is optimistic or sad. You want everyone who sees that painting to see it as a representation of hope, but it totally depends on how you imagine it and how you want people to see it. Unlike the painting, it completely depends on what kind of business you have or what product you are selling.
You set the tone according to it, just like how the painter puts expression to the painting, so it is completely up to you and the tone you set, whether it is formal, informal, social, or professional. The main factors that determine this are the category and planning of your business.
Develop an effective marketing plan:
No action or activity is completed without a proper plan. Making a proper strategy is just like giving a proper direction to your business activity. With proper content marketing planning, one can easily set their budget, marketing channels, target audience, and many more things (these things depend on your needs and your category of business) to make it easy for you. Here’s an example.
Let’s say you are cooking something and you are just randomly throwing spices in the cooking pot, and you do not have any idea about what you are cooking, for whom you are cooking, or what ingredients you are using. Not only are you wasting your resources, but you are also wasting your efforts on such things that have no outcome.
You are just like hitting your target without aim. Now with proper planning, you can easily plan or set the actions like what dish we are preparing, making the list of ingredients and spices for whom we are preparing, etc. With proper planning, not only will you understand what you are doing or for whom you are doing it, but you can also plan resources according to it.
Engage with the audience:
Engaging with your audience is not just about broadcasting your message; it’s about building meaningful connections and fostering a sense of community around your brand. One fun example of audience engagement is Zomoto’s Twitter and Instagram accounts. Zomoto, the food delivery chain known for its fast delivery services, has gained widespread attention and admiration for its witty and playful interactions with followers on Twitter and Instagram.
Instead of sticking to generic responses or promotional content, Zomoto’s Twitter and Instagram accounts take a more personalized and humorous approach. They respond to customer queries and comments with quick-witted remarks and playful banter. For instance
Recently, there was a lot of chatter on social media about a Zomato order that turned into a funny conversation. It was like a game you might see on Instagram, with people saying things like “One fish” and “Into the water” back and forth.
The chat between the customer and Zomato got a lot of attention online. Zomato even posted a screenshot on X (formerly Twitter) of a customer asking for just one fish fry. The Zomoto employee replied by going into the water, following the trend.
This approach not only entertains followers but also humanizes the brand, making it more relatable and memorable. By engaging in conversations rather than just pushing out marketing messages, Zomato’s has successfully built a loyal following and generated buzz around its brand on social media. By doing this, not only will they interact with the audience, but they are also increasing their customer base.
Create High-Quality Content and Medium:
Developing and sharing high-quality content is really significant as it showcases your brand value, expertise, and positive attributes. This may include blog posts, videos, infographics, and social media updates. And it completely depends on your planning, like what kind of media channel you are using. It can be traditional, such as television, radio, newspapers, and magazines, or digital, such as websites, social media platforms, email, and mobile apps.
Now it completely depends on the channels, what, and how you manage the message. For instance, if you plan to display video content, you have to make a proper script (which includes proper use of tone and length of message) and select the proper medium so that the message can be conveyed according to you.
As in print media like the newspaper, you have to work on planning, which includes budget planning, area planning (which you want to target), and content planning, also known as message planning, which includes the message heading and the content you want to present.
So if you plan your content and use a proper medium effectively, high-quality panning and proper content are the keys to obtaining a proper customer base.
Optimize SEO:
Implementing SEO strategies is crucial for online reputation management because search engine results often influence people’s perceptions of a brand. By optimizing your brand’s online content, you can ensure that positive information about your brand ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), making it more visible to potential customers. Increased visibility can help overshadow any negative content that may exist and shape a more positive perception of your brand.
To make it simple, here’s an example to help you.
Imagine a customer who had a negative experience with your brand and posted a scathing review online. This review appears prominently when someone searches for your brand’s name on Google. To mitigate the impact of this negative review, you can use SEO strategies to promote positive content about your brand and push down the negative reviews in search engine rankings.
Now, not only does SEO help attract a large audience, but it also gives a competitive edge.
Encourage positive reviews:
Actively encouraging satisfied customers to leave a positive review. Now what will happen if a new customer visits your web page and wants to buy a product or wants any services? Because of positive reviews, the customer it will eventually clear all their doubts and make an immediate purchase.
Monitor Competitors:
Keep an eye on your competitors online reputations and learn from their successes and failures. Keeping an eye on what your competitors are up to online is super important for managing your brand’s reputation. One needs to always focus on his competitor so you can easily achieve your goal, as it also helps in planning as the organization may set the pricing policy (setting the price low or high to encourage customers). Lets make it easy for you with the help of an example.
let’s say you have a bakery and notice that people are raving about another bakery’s fancy cake designs on social media. You might decide to step up your game by offering unique cake options or improving your own social media presence to showcase your delicious treats.
By paying attention to what’s going on with your competitors, you can get ideas on how to make your brand look even better and cater to what customers really want. It’s like peeking over their shoulder to see what’s working for them, so you can do it even better for your own brand.
An online reputation collision can be a frustrating roadblock, but it doesn’t have to define your digital presence. By following these eight tips, you can cultivate a strong online reputation that reflects your true identity and achievements. Remember one thing if you have to constant with your activity that helps you to manage your online presences because , consistency is key so be constant and updated
