A brand’s reputation depends on more than just online reviews. It also depends on offline KPIs like customer satisfaction surveys and referrals.
Tracking these critical online management KPIs will help you build a solid reputation that is not easily shaken by negative online reviews or a front-page news story.
1. Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are an essential part of any online reputation management strategy. Not only are they a powerful tool for persuading consumers to buy your products or services, but they can also help you identify potential issues in the customer experience that need addressing.
Consumers trust businesses with great online reviews more than they do those without. In fact, 90% of online shoppers read reviews before making a purchase decision and 88% of them trust those reviews as much as they do personal recommendations.
A business’s online review percentage is an important metric because it provides an accurate representation of the opinions of its customers. Typically, most people will only leave feedback when they have a negative experience, so a high negative percentage can be an indicator of poor service quality or other areas for improvement. However, a high positive rating can be an indication of exceptional product quality and customer satisfaction.
While it’s important to amplify your positive customer feedback, it is equally as vital to monitor and respond to negative reviews. When you ignore negative customer feedback, it can make your brand appear indifferent and insecure. On the other hand, when you take the time to address a negative review, it shows that you care about your customers’ experiences and are willing to take steps to improve your company’s services. In fact, Harvard Business Review found that businesses who respond to all reviews, whether good or bad, increase their overall star rating by 12%.
2. Social Media
With over 4.70 billion active social media users, there is a huge potential audience that you can connect with on these platforms. With online reputation monitoring and brand monitoring tools, you can keep track of what people are saying about your business or brand.
Monitoring customer feedback and reviews on social media, review sites, forums, etc is crucial for shaping a positive image of your brand online. This also helps identify areas of weakness or concern, so you can focus on improving products and services.
Additionally, a good social media presence can help you rank higher on search engine results. This is important, as 81% of customers say they take a company’s reputation into consideration when making purchasing decisions.
To get the most out of your social media presence, focus on the platforms that are most relevant to your target audience. Use digital monitoring and listening tools to set up alerts for specific keywords or hashtags related to your brand, so you can stay on top of conversations happening in real-time. Social media management tools also allow you to perform sentiment analysis on brand mentions or comments, allowing you to better understand the positive and negative reactions from your audience. This information can then be used to inform future marketing strategies.
3. Search Engines
Search engines are answer machines that scour the Internet for content, find and organize web pages and online data to match search queries with relevant results. The search engine’s internal evaluation algorithm determines which page will display on a search results page (SERP). Search engines are the most important tools for anyone interested in building and maintaining an online reputation. For most businesses, a high search engine ranking is essential for gaining visibility and increasing website traffic.
Search engine algorithms rely on a variety of criteria to assess and rank websites and other information for relevance. These include determining query meaning – by looking at the keywords in the search query and matching them with words or phrases in the webpage content. Also, examining the context of the content can help a search engine decide how important or relevant it is. Other factors include evaluating the quality of the content – for example, looking at the level of expertise and authority of the author or how often the content is updated.
Businesses and individuals can monitor their reputation using free tools such as Google Alerts to receive notifications of any new reviews or mentions of their brand name. However, it can be difficult to keep track of every comment about your brand or product, particularly negative feedback. For this reason, many brands opt to use paid software that specializes in tracking comments and reviews.
4. Business Listings
Online business listings are a crucial element of an ORM strategy. They are digital representations of your local presence and can include your website address, business name, phone number, operating hours, photos, and reviews. When your online business listings are accurate and consistent, they boost your visibility and help search engines find you. Additionally, they help build trust with your audience, encourage positive reviews, and increase your business.
Business listing management is the process of optimizing your business listings across multiple platforms and directories. This includes claiming and updating your Google Business Profile, Yelp, industry-specific review sites, and social media. It also involves monitoring and responding to reviews and feedback. This helps foster trust, grow your bottom line, and set you apart from your competitors.
When used as part of an ORM strategy, business listings and citations can boost your SEO, increase local visibility, and encourage customers to spend more. To avoid missing out on potential revenue, be sure your listings are complete and accurate, and monitor for any inconsistencies.
Online reputation can be a make-or-break factor in this digitized world, but it is often overlooked by businesses. Assessing & measuring your online reputation can help you determine how well your marketing efforts are working and what steps need to be taken to improve your digital image.