Online Reputation Management to Protect Your Brand

What is reputation management?

According to Gartner, reputation management is the practice of influencing stakeholder perceptions and public conversations about an organization and its brands. It includes monitoring perceptions and conversations, responding to reputation threats, and proactively seizing opportunities to boost reputation.

Why is online reputation management important?

Every day customers submit online reviews about your products and services.  These reviews appear in the search results and on social media platforms, influencing potential customers' purchase decisions. Reasons for taking your business reputation seriously include:

• To Obtain a Higher Ranking in the Search Engines
• To Build Credibility and Customer Trust  
• To Increase Revenues 
• To Polish Your Professional Image
• To Help with Customer Acquisition 

Where do you start with managing your brand?

Start with developing a reputation management strategy.  Who will be responsible for monitoring customer reviews? How will you determine which comments, negative reviews, or mentions of your brand are worth addressing? What tone will you take with bad reviews or positive reviews? 

What about reputation management software?

Yes, there are tools and reputation management software to help you manage your online presence. Some of the most popular tools are Yext, SEMRush, and Brightlocal.  These tools can help you:

• Obtain More Reviews Via Email Request
• Survey Customers for a Net Promoter Score
• Track Local Keywords and Phrases
• Place Your Listing on Review Sites with Industry Citations
• Post Positive Content on Your Site with an Embed of Reviews
• Measure Social Media Marketing Such as Tweets, Likes, and Mentions
• Fix Incorrect Information on Your Business Profile

How much does it cost to manage your business reputation?

The cost of reputation management will depend on the work.  Pricing starts at $299 per month to improve online reviews.  You can pay up to $20,000 per month to “alter search engine results for a company”.  In some SEO and social media offerings, business reputation management is included or may be offered as an add-on. 

What I’ve learned as a business owner?

1. Put a plan in place to manage your business profile and reputation. 
2. Ask customers for reviews and testimonials to counterbalance negative search results. 
3. Reviews are not always accurate and you can’t fix them.  For example, DaBrian Marketing Group has a Google Review that reads, in part, “Nice staff, great food and drinks, awesome Irish vibe.” As a minority-owned digital marketing agency, we are not serving up food and drinks with an Irish vibe!
4. Communicate with your customers. 
5. It’s all about customer service.