Managing your business's online reputation means positively influencing the conversation around your brand, with the goal of preventing content that harms your image, generating greater brand recognition, and attracting more customers to your establishment.
Did you find it interesting? In this post we'll discuss how to build a strategy for managing your business's online reputation in 3 steps.
To find out, keep reading.
Step 1: Initial settings
a) Mapping online reputation sites
Within your market, which online reputation sites can your business be evaluated on? Google My Business and Facebook are two platforms where your company should be present.
In this post, "What are the main online review sites?" , we present the most relevant review sites for each market. Take a look and select the ones that are most important for your segment.
b) Creating a professional profile on online assessment platforms:
Once you've selected the online reputation sites, it's time to create a profile on each one. This is a very important step, so make sure to:
- Fill in the NET (Name, Address, and Phone Number) exactly the same across all your profiles. Many businesses are missing out on ranking opportunities simply due to discrepancies in this information. Add payment methods and hours of operation, as well as other information that is relevant to your customers: free parking, children's play area, etc.
- In your company description, don't be lazy. Write a compelling text that effectively presents your key unique selling points. Remember to add keywords relevant to your business; this will help your establishment rank better on Google.
- Pay close attention to the photos. Don't just focus on photos of your storefront or facilities. Invest in a good professional to help you convey the unique atmosphere of your place. If the review platform allows it, upload some videos as well. See here how to do this on Google My Business.
c) Communicating your presence on review sites to your customers:
Once you've correctly registered on online reputation sites, it's time to communicate this to your clients and make it clear that you want to be reviewed by them. To do this:
- Distribute (without exaggeration) graphic materials (stickers, signs, posters) throughout your establishment informing about your presence on review sites;
- See which channels you can use to advertise your presence on these websites. For example: the menu, employee uniforms, packaging, coasters, and more. Be creative!
- Train your team on the importance of reviews and how to ask customers to rate the establishment;
👉Check this out: How can getting more reviews help you sell more?
d) Establish a guideline for handling reviews
This guidance document should contain behavioral guidelines regarding assessments. Furthermore, it will make the task easier and faster to complete.
It must align with the company's mission, vision, and values. Meet with your team and discuss the following questions:
- What should the structure of a review response be? For example: Start by thanking the customer, mention the customer's name, etc.
- How to deal with negative reviews;
- Which reviews to respond to first?
- What tone of voice should be used when responding to reviews?
- Problem identified, what to do?
- An opportunity for improvement has been identified, what to do?
In this post we focus specifically on how to deal with negative reviews.
Step 2: Setting up metrics for online reputation management
Quality of reviews
What is the ratio of reviews with comments to reviews with only a rating (stars)? Reviews with comments are more valuable because, in addition to the score, they offer written feedback. Furthermore, the sentiment expressed in the review also matters. What are the predominant sentiments in your reviews: satisfaction, dissatisfaction, anger, happiness?
Volume of evaluations
The more reviews, the better, right? Exactly! The more positive reviews, the greater the social proof of your business's credibility. An establishment that consistently receives a high number of positive reviews will have a greater advantage over the competition in a local search. However, the secret lies in the "consistently." And that's what the next metric is about.
Current status of assessments
Reviews lose relevance over time. Having 1000 reviews from last month isn't as relevant as having 100 reviews from this week. This is because the more recent a review is, the more relevant it is, since it's more likely to reflect the current experience with the establishment. Therefore, it's not enough to have a large number of reviews; they need to be current. You need to receive reviews regularly.
Response rate
When a company responds to customer reviews, it demonstrates a greater commitment to delivering a positive customer experience. As a result, it will have greater relevance on reputation websites and in local search rankings.
Furthermore, responding to your customers is a great opportunity to incorporate keywords that are important to your business, improve your local SEO, and attract more customers to your establishment.
👉Check it out: Local SEO: what it is and how to increase the chances of your company being found by local consumers
Listen also to our podcast about Local SEO.
Step 3: Setting up recurring actions that will keep your online reputation high
This is the final phase of your strategy for monitoring your business's online reputation. Once everything is up and running, these will be your next tasks:
a) Establish a routine for requesting reviews:
When it comes to the online reputation of businesses, we're basically talking about online reviews. Define how you're going to get them.
For example:
- Request to be evaluated by email or SMS.
- You can still train your team to solicit customer feedback.
- Create compelling calls to action on your website to get reviewed
- Run marketing campaigns on social media asking to be rated by your customers;
- There are many options!
b) Establish a routine of responses
Remember, just as important as receiving reviews is responding to them properly. Don't forget to have that guidance guide we discussed at the beginning on hand. In this post we detail the process of responding to reviews. It's good to check it out because, in addition to making your work easier, it will save you a lot of headaches from mistakes that could have been easily avoided.
c) Establish a monitoring routine
Once a month, meet with your team to discuss the goals that have been set for the business. If you don't have goals defined yet, start by:
- Did the rating on each of the sites improve or worsen?
- Has the volume of new reviews increased or decreased compared to last month?
- How many negative, positive, and neutral reviews did it receive this month? Was it more or less than last month?
- How many of the reported problems were resolved?
Based on these numbers, define your goals to improve month by month.
d) Establish a culture focused on customer experience
The secret to getting positive reviews is managing customer expectations. People are driven by expectations and become frustrated when those expectations are not met.
Many businesses make the mistake of raising customer expectations too high, and then failing to deliver when the time comes. It's safer to only promise what you can guarantee you can deliver and then strive to deliver what wasn't promised. That's how you delight a customer.
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Try to ascertain whether the expectation you create is being met—is there a possibility of exceeding it? Start by analyzing the following points:
- Do the photos published on your website reflect reality?
- What are your customers complaining about that you can adjust in your marketing to avoid creating false expectations?
- Do you actually deliver on everything you're offering?
- Contact your company's customer service department, pretending to be a customer. How was your experience? Do the same with after-sales service. Also, browse your website, putting yourself in your customer's shoes. What grade would you give this experience?
Conclusion
By monitoring your business's online reputation, you become able to identify problems in advance and also prevent potential damage to your image by acting proactively.
Furthermore, they increase your chances of getting ahead by identifying trends and opportunities before your competitor.
We've seen here how it's entirely possible for you to start managing your online reputation in just 3 steps. So gather your team and put this into practice now.
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