Social media, online review sites and other digital spaces have created a myriad of ways for consumers to learn and talk about brands. For most of us, it’s a good thing. For brands, however, it can be a real challenge to stay on top of consumer perception and maintain a positive reputation. A single bad review or mishandled consumer complaint can both stick and spread before you’re even aware of it.
Online reputation management is a full-fledged discipline that touches upon public relations, customer service, social media marketing, search engine optimization and more. Enterprise-class companies devote thousands of dollars to have people watch their back online. But what about mid-sized and growing brands looking to be smart about their online reputations?
The good news is there are foundational steps you can take that will go a long way towards protecting your brand reputation.
1. Pay attention to what’s said about your brand everywhere you can.
Most good social media management tools will have a listening or monitoring function you can use to stay on top of brand mentions, but people can do the work as well. Look for both direct @-mentions as well as more casual references to your company name, locations, etc. And make sure you’re monitoring across all of the most common social platforms, not just the ones where you maintain a brand presence.
In addition, use Google Alerts to get notified anytime your business is mentioned online, and make sure you claim and own your Yelp business page. Verified business owners have access to Yelp’s suite of tools, which includes review notifications and response capabilities.
2. Make it easy for customers to contact you and get help.
It’s no longer enough to have a dedicated phone number, online form or email address for customer support. (Pro tip: LiveChat is replacing the online contact form, as it provides a much more immediate way for customers to ask for and receive help.) People also want to be able to contact your company via text, messaging apps and social media, too. Consider creating a dedicated social handle for customer questions and support issues — e.g. @YourBrandNameHelp or @YourBrandNameQuestions.
Most importantly, make sure that all of your contact points are fully staffed with trained response teams who can resolve customer issues quickly and effectively.
3. Cultivate a wealth of positive reviews.
Of course, consistently providing excellent products and customer service is the best way to generate great reviews. But it can help to encourage people to provide those reviews — people are often more likely to complain publicly than to offer praise. Make it easy by providing feedback mechanisms in your customer communications. Make sure you proudly display positive feedback on your website and social media. This makes the original commenter feel recognized and important, and can actually nudge more people to share.
4. Maintain your social media presence and customer engagement.
Show up on social and be consistent in your cadence. Make sure your efforts are guided by policies that instill your brand voice, appropriate subject matters and professionalism. And always have review and approval systems in place so everything stays buttoned up.
5. Capitalize on owned media (e.g., your website) with a high-quality blog.
In addition to providing content you can share in your email program, a blog adds more pages to your website with regularity, hopefully with strong content and keywords to help boost your visibility. To help make sure this happens, establish a regular blog calendar and stick to it. Make sure each article provides genuinely valuable content (not just fluff) and is professionally written by someone trained to write thoughtful and engaging copy. Google Ads Keyword Planner can help you identify valuable keywords to incorporate, which will help your excellent content surface even more. It all contributes to a constellation of positive brand mentions online.
Looking for expert support in building a strong brand online and off? Wick Marketing can help. For more than 25 years, we’ve crafted proven brand stories for clients who count on us to care as much as they do. Let’s get started. Email barbara@wickmarketing.com or give us a call at (512) 479-9834.
