Reputation management is important in every country and reputation management Ireland is no different.
So, if you want to improve your brand reputation – here are some great tips to do so.
1. Thoroughly Audit and Understand Your Current Online Reputation
If you want to change any situation for the better, you must first understand what your current situation and what is likely holding you back. This also applies to Online Reputation Management (ORM). In order to improve your brand’s online status, you should first put yourself in a customer’s shoes and carry out an in-depth audit of your company from the customer’s perspective. This is the best way to understand how customers interact with your brand. An in-depth audit will aid you in identifying where your brand is failing and how you can improve the situation.
All brands or agencies that offer ORM services must first audit their current online presence and efforts to gain a better understanding of their online performance. Based on the results of the audit, you can then go ahead to tailor an ORM strategy that will help you achieve your desired objectives and goals in the online sphere.
One great DIY way to audit your online reputation is to try and search your brand using the incognito window in any browser. It is best to carry out the online search through incognito mode since it doesn’t leave any website cookies – as cookies can affect search result parameters. An online search of your brand will also help you understand your brand’s online SERP ranking and the Metadata associated with website on the web.
2. Check Out Comments on Your Brand Online
Review and comments are an integral part of any successful ORM campaign. Reviews, comments, and discussions pertaining to your brand on popular social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook can greatly impact the online presence of your brand.
Remember that social media platforms are dynamic and they offer any individual the opportunity to say whatever they like about your brand. If you are not careful, you can tank your brand’s value by not paying attention to what is being said about your product offerings and brand.
To manage your brand’s online reputation, stay on top of what people on social media platforms are saying about your brand. Note any suggestions given by customers as well as positive and negative comments. Actively participate in discussions pertaining to your brand and try to control the narrative in your favor. If there are any misunderstandings regarding your brand, try to clear the air permanently as quickly as possible.
3. Set Goals on What You Want to Achieve in the Online Sphere
After auditing your existing online reputation, set a goal on what you want your online reputation to be. Remember that your goal and objectives need to be unique. No two brands have the same aims, so, decide what it is you personally want your brand to gain from your reputation management efforts.
One great goal for any brand is to get rid of any negative comments or complaints about their product offerings. Note that you can tailor goals to target a specific audience or online platform where your company’s reputation has been dragged through the mud too much.
Writing down your goals is the best way to come up with a winning ORM strategy. If you are having a hard time setting goals for your brand, consult an ORM agency to get detailed information on your current online status and the best and quickest ways for your brand to achieve the goals you have in mind.
4. Focus on All Parts of Your ORM Strategy but Prioritize What’s Most Important
A great ORM strategy consists of a lot of parts such as SMM, SEO, and PR tactics, among others. It is easy to get distracted on all these parts – all of which are dynamic. When crafting an ORM strategy, identify the most important parts of the strategy and pay extra attention to them. For example, if your brand is new, you should first focus on building an online presence. On the other hand, if your brand is established online, you should focus on parts of the ORM strategy that can help you grow your online presence.
There are no shortcuts when it comes to building a strong and great online reputation. You need to start from the beginning – posting content that is useful to your customers and then improving your public relations and customer service tactics.
When building an ORM strategy, ensure that you are working on a budget since implementing an all-round strategy can be expensive. Ensure that you set aside a huge portion of the resources you have in hand for the most important parts of your ORM strategy.
5. Create a Response Strategy for Online Commentaries on Your Brand
When creating your ORM strategy, you should ensure that you put in place mechanisms that enable quick responses to people who comment on your brand. A great strategy should include mechanisms that allow you to immediately detect comments on your brand. Note that you should responds to comments immediately you receive a notification. Your reply should be pertinent to the discussion in the comment.
Online comments are typically divided into two – Urgent and Non-Urgent.
Non-urgent comments are usually mostly positive and they cannot negatively affect your online reputation immediately. On the other hand, urgent comments usually contain negative information on your brand and should be resolved ASAP since they can detrimentally affect your brand’s online standing.
Ideally, you should craft a response strategy that allows you to respond to comments in the real-time. You should tailor your comments in such a way that they solve the issue raised. You should also consider adding a ‘block’ feature that allows you to identify fake comments and trolls. Note that replying to trolls can sometimes make a bad situation worse. A ‘block’ feature can help you whitelist genuine comments thus saving you a lot of time. Another great idea is to create a FAQs page that provides answers to queries that are most raised by customers.
6. Craft a Crisis/Emergency Response and Management Strategy
The internet is generally wild and untamed. Any individual with an internet connection can say something that can potentially harm your brand. Chances are that even if you offer quality services in the best way possible, someone will have something to complain about. In some cases, negative comments on your brand – even without basis can catastrophically affect the fortunes of your brand.
To prevent this from happening, ensure that you have a crisis management strategy that you can unleash to mitigate any potential problem areas. Your strategy should be all about addressing the negative issue and then taking control of the narrative in such a way that your brand comes out in the best light possible.
You should also draft standard replies that you can modify quickly to suit different situations. The responses that you have in place should align with you’re the image you want to portray. They should also be stern to avoid the argument at hand from exacerbating.
Lastly, ensure that your response strategy is linked with the online platforms where your brand has the most followers. In case there is a crisis, this will help you get your message across to as many people as possible quickly.
7. Ensure That Your Brand’s Content and Tone is Strong
Premium content put forward in a tone of authority can help you gain the trust of your audience while also boosting your brand’s image. Ensure that your ORM strategy is designed for all online platforms so that your brand is put in the best light possible across the web.
Additionally, you should also ensure that you are sending out the same message across all platforms to avoid contradictions. For example, the information on your website should also be replicated across your social media platforms. Try to ensure that the information you provide is unique and easily recognizable to create an indelible image on those who come across it.
Providing useful, unique, and premium content with an air of authority will help you increase your brand awareness, trust and reliability among existing and prospective customers.