The reputation that your business has can make or break a business. All it takes is one comment online that can go viral. The internet has made it easier than ever to make unfounded an often untrue accusations about businesses and the people who own them. Here are some things that you may want to consider doing to protect the reputation of your business.
One of the primary ways you can manage your reputation is to claim your business brand online and take charge of the content about you. Use either KnowEm.com, UserNameCheck.com or NameChk.com to locate every online instance of your business name popping up. You only need to use one, but any of them can let you know if anyone out there is misrepresenting your business or speaking ill of you.
If you use social media sites, you need to be able to track the success of each post. There are several programs available online to help you track mentions of your business. These programs will also informs you of when a user shares your post with his friends and family members.
Before you start marketing to your customers, make sure that you are aware of the demographic you are targeting. This will help you figure out how to connect with them. Your tone, content and verbiage are supposed to be differ in accordance with the type of people you are trying to appeal to.
Run social media accounts professionally. You don’t want to hire someone to run them without any training since they can give your company a negative reputation. While you should open up a bit in order to let people see the person behind the business, there is a limit to how far you should go with this.
If you make a public snafu, show the world that you are mature and apologize. Everyone makes mistakes, but it takes a big person to acknowledge that. If people see that you are truly apologetic for the wrongs you have done, it will make it more likely that they will work with you in the future.
Blogs are wonderful ways to bolster your online presence and increase your company’s reputation. Feature guest bloggers in your industry, offer tips on how to use your products and other information that will help your customers. One of the best strategies is to feature other businesses that compliment your products and services.
Counteract any negative online content on your company by contacting its creator. If there is ever any negative content when you do a search of your company, try contacting the reviewer, blogger or whoever posted it as soon as possible. Ask them if there’s anything you can do change their negative sentiment to a positive one. If they are unwilling to do so, write a comment(if possible) with your side of the story.
If you come across a negative comment or review about your company, do not ignore it. Post a response to it and defend your position. Sometimes people who post negative comments only tell one side of the story. It is up to you to present your side of it so the readers will get a fuller picture.
Good reputation management is not about saying good things about your own company. It is about your company’s positive actions. Consumers judge a company by what it actually does, not by the things it says. When verbal promises are not backed by actions, the customer loses trust in the company and the reputation suffers.
As you can see, a reputation can either build a business up or it can bring it down. That is why it is more important than ever to manage the reputation that your business has. So keep the above tips in mind and help protect the reputation of your business.