Having earned a negative reputation, it can be quite difficult to get rid of its consequences and change the opinion of others about yourself or your company. Working on your image can be compared to building a business: first you work for it, but then it works for you. Times may change, crises may come, and external circumstances may arise. But a good reputation will always remain with us, helping us to emerge victorious from crises, increase our income, and keep partners and clients. The Reputation House agency, which has been working in the field of reputation management since 2010, knows this well.
Over this time, the company has worked on over 1,000 successful projects around the world, working with medium and large businesses, media personalities, and celebrities. It has all the tools at its disposal to implement an effective PR strategy, correct its reputation, and popularize brands. Using ORM technologies, including SEO, guerrilla marketing, work with mentions, and SERM, Reputation House achieves great results very quickly. The agency creates a positive space on the Internet around the client, neutralizes negativity, and prevents the spread of negativity.
How do reviews and other content on the internet affect reputation?
Statistics can help us understand how interrelated these concepts are. The data for 2022 shows that:
- 49% of consumers need at least a 4-star rating to make a decision to do business with a company.
- One additional star in a Yelp rating can increase revenue by an average of 9%.
- The level of trust in a business increases 3.2 times when reputation scores and reviews rise from average to excellent.
- 69% of customers trust in search engines when researching business offers.
Nowadays, it is hard to imagine a situation where someone makes a decision to purchase or cooperate without familiarizing themselves with the opinions about a company/person on the Internet. If a person sees a rating of, for example, 2.7 out of 5 on a marketplace or geoservice, he/she is unlikely to have a positive view of the company. It is much more profitable to invest in building and maintaining a good reputation than to lose clients and finances due to negativity on the Internet.
Reputation House agency reminds us how important it is to consider reputational risks when building a business. These are economic, human, and reputational factors that cause the deterioration of reputation and the need for its restoration. As the agency’s experience shows, it is always possible to restore the company’s image, but sometimes it takes a lot of money and effort.
It is possible to prevent negative outcomes by tracking reviews that affect reputation, monitoring published information, and developing SMM strategies. But these tools are not enough in 2023, as there are new trends in reputation building and maintenance.
What to pay attention to in 2023?
Among the major trends, Reputation House notes:
- Constant work on online negativity. Dissatisfied customers are a marker of what needs to be changed or improved. You should take their feedback as a resource that helps you work more efficiently. The company should show its readiness and willingness to solve the problems arising from customers’ problems, which will help to level out the negativity.
- Presence on highly specialized review websites. Reputation is influenced by reviews not only from large services but from small ones as well.
- Guerrilla marketing, i.e. advertising without direct advertising. Active discussions on various websites (blogs, thematic forums, social media, etc.). The presence of agents of influence on such websites allows them to promote goods and services in a non-intrusive way. Employees of the Reputation House agency conduct a live dialog with users, talking about the product and answering questions about it. But the slightest mistake in guerrilla marketing can cost a lot, so it is better to seek help from specialists.
- Developing your own tone of voice. Analyze the preferences of your potential audience and communicate with them in an appropriate tone. But remember that rudeness and counter-criticism are unacceptable under any circumstances.
- Monitoring and analyzing feedback on reputation, with which the agency’s specialists are always ready to help. It is not necessary to strive for the perfect image, as it is impossible to create a perfect product or service. A small amount of negativity creates a realistic image and plays in favor of the company.
- Audience interaction. It is not enough to just sell a product or service. It is also important for people to see the social responsibility of a business. So tell them about your projects and charity events, and sincerely ask for their opinion. Properly formed content will help create a positive reputation. This includes publishing expert materials, reviews, FAQs, news – the more good things the audience knows about you and your activities, the better.
- Use of SERM tools offered by Reputation House. They allow only positive content about a company or person to appear in the search results. Agency employees level out the negativity, post verified information in a positive tone – discussions, reviews, and articles. Satellite websites and new content islands are created to demonstrate the positive features of the brand, thus increasing the audience’s reach. Reputation House uses SERM tools to push negative information out of the top 10 search results.
- Interacting with bloggers and Influencers. They have access to an already loyal audience, to whom it is much easier to sell.
- Choosing social media as a platform for sales and reputation building through reviews. You can convert leads by linking your website to social media.
- Expanding the online presence of the brand/persona. It is recommended to be everywhere where people are talking about you: forums, review websites, social media, geoservices, etc. The most trustworthy responses are those from the company’s official account.
- Introducing video marketing, especially on YouTube, one of the most visited resources worldwide. Reputation House agency works with SERM on YouTube as well, pushing negative stories out of search results by promoting positive videos.
- Market research tracking. Up-to-date information on market conditions and changes occurring in it – this is what will allow you to make timely adjustments to your development strategy.
What’s the bottom line?
As you can see, there are many reputation trends relevant in 2023, so it is not necessary to use them all at once. It is better to work step-by-step, gradually forming a positive perception of your brand or person in the audience. When developing an ORM-strategy, Reputation House agency uses SERM tools, monitoring and work with mentions, guerrilla marketing, and the formation and promotion of positive content. Complex work based on extensive experience and high professionalism is the key to your successful online reputation.