Even if your business currently has a pristine online reputation, it doesn’t mean that you can ignore it. Just one negative review can cause tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses—months or even years into the future.
Conversely, no reviews can cost you as well. This especially holds true if your competitors have hundreds or even thousands of online reviews. Will a prospective customer or client take a chance on your business—or will they go with one of your competitors who’s actively responding to their online reviews?
We want to show you five great reasons why you should be engaging in proactive online reputation management:
Better and More Reviews
Online reviews are kind of funny in the sense that if you have a lot of them—they tend to attract even more. If your business doesn’t have any online reviews, the best way to get started is to simply ask your satisfied customers to leave you an honest one. They can review you on Google, Yelp, or any number of popular review sites in your niches.
As time goes by, you’ll find that more and more people will start to leave reviews on their own accord—without you having to ask them. Keep in mind that you should always monitor your online reputation and quickly and professionally respond to any negative reviews. By trying to resolve the situation in favor of the customer, you’re giving new prospective clients and customers a sense of trust—and a reason to try you out.
Drown Out Negatives
As the old adage goes, “you can’t please everyone.” If one day you find yourself the recipient of a negative review, don’t freak out. Take the time to read it and respond to it to keep the customer satisfied. Then take a deep breath and tell yourself everything is going to be alright—provided that you’ve already begun proactive online reputation management.
Negative reviews are inevitable, and if you’re actively managing your online reputation, the goodwill eventually outweighs, or drown out, any negative reviews that might come along. If a prospective client or customer happens to read the negative review, it will be surrounded by a lot of excellent reviews, thereby lessening the damage done.
Increased Sales
By actively responding to online reviews and proactively managing your reputation, your prospective clients and customers will gain trust in you and your business. It shows that you actively care about customer service, and most people are reasonable enough to realize that negative reviews will happen every so often.
This can help increase your sales exponentially as an increasing number of people will take to Google, Yelp, and other online review sites before trying out a new business. They want to see the experience that others have had, and it will give them the confidence they need to give your business a shot.
Better Brand Awareness
Proactive online reputation management can also significantly help improve your brand awareness. This is especially true if you’re taking advantage of more than one online channel. Many businesses that are proactively managing their online reputation use at least one social media site to do so. Twitter and Facebook are two popular choices.
Increased brand awareness occurs when one of your clients or customers leaves you a good review on social media sites. Their online friends can see their activities, and that can help generate awareness of your brand. It also might cause them to purchase if one of their trusted friends had a good experience with your business.
Costs Less in the Long Run
If a negative review on the internet costs you lots of business, it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to pay a professional company to “drown it out.” The problem with this is that it can take several months to see results—and there’s no real guarantee it will work.
By proactively managing your online reputation, a couple of negative reviews won’t harm you in the long run. You’ll enjoy better brand recognition, and there’s a strong possibility of increased sales and customer goodwill.
Online Reputation Management Help in Austin
If you have any questions about proactive online reputation management or would like to speak to someone about getting started, give us a call at (512) 993-9993. At Adapting Online, we specialize in online reputation management, marketing, and SEO. We can help create an online presence for your business that will improve the online reputation of your business. Give us a call today to learn more about how we can help.
Monica Thomason, Web Marketing Specialist
Monica Thomason has been involved in all aspects of internet marketing for over 15 years. She loves all things internet and truly appreciates what the internet can do for businesses. Whether you need help with content and SEO, ecommerce optimization, social media or reputation management she would love to help you!
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