Reputation Management
Reputation ManagementReputation Management – What is it?
Reputation Management is the practice of crafting strategies that shape or influence the public perception of an organization, individual or other entity on the internet. It helps drive public opinion about a business and it products and services.
According to the Huffington Post, 90 percent of customers say their buying is influenced by online reviews, you’d better make sure your online reputation, in reviews and other places, is as positive as possible. This is something your marketing people should be all over from the get-go, whether your business is large or small.
5 Reasons Why Reputation Management is Important
- It helps maintain positioning – Reputation management is very important for a brand’s position in the market. Once negative material is shared on the internet about a brand, more often than not it ends up losing loyalty and fans. This can in turn hurt the brand’s bottom line, water down its hard-earned respect and trust.
- Helps increase sales – This one goes without saying really. With global statistics indicating that over 80 per cent of consumers refer to online reviews before making any purchase, brands with a bad reputation or those with a huge number of negative reviews miss out on big business at any given time. Therefore, sales are heavily dependent on the reputation of the brand or company.
- Get to know your customer – An effective reputation management process gives the brand or company the perfect opportunity to interact further with the customer. Whether it’s responding to a price query, product availability or dispelling a rumor on social media, this kind of interaction opens up an avenue for the brand to better understand the needs of the customer. The information gathered can also be useful for the brand in the future.
- Builds Trust – It’s a fact that customers prefer to buy brands they trust. Having done their due diligence via internet search, trust and credibility form the basis at which the customer finally spends their cash. With an effective reputation management and a good Search Engine Optimization for your website, search results will always work to a brands favor. Your company or brand is only as good as your reputation hence it is critical that you protect your reputation jealously.
- Data gathering – Data is priceless and a brand can never have enough data. Data collected through reputation management monitoring helps the business formulate effective marketing and communication strategies based on the online conversations and trends. Product development and improvement can also benefit immensely from the data collected via reputation management process.