Reputation is everything, especially when it comes to your online brand.
You can create business cards, websites, stunning graphics, and all the fancy jazz you can imagine.
But if you don’t properly manage your online brand reputation, you run the risk of losing your audience, paying customers, and even your business.
To help you and your business succeed in a world where social media and online marketing is king, here are a few tips for managing your online brand reputation.
Transparency is Crucial
Consumers like brands that speak the truth. They dislike discovering that a brand is unethical, hostile, or hiding information from the consumer.
Here’s an example.
Dark Horse (a coffee shop) received a tweet addressing the lack of electrical outlets in their stores. Dark Horse responded with a pessimistic tweet that did nothing to help their online presence.
Social media is kind of like the Wild West. You can say or do pretty much whatever you like.
However, when you respond to customers, even irate customers, in a negative tone, it can seriously damage your overall reputation.
Think about it this way.
Transparency is simply the act of opening your business or brand up for direct communication and feedback from your audience.
So ask for feedback, have your employees engage with customers, and talk about criticisms publicly. And more importantly, politely.
This way, even if you have a few bad reviews, it shows that your business cares about what customers are saying and that you’re taking a proactive approach to solving problems rather than being defensive about them.
Separate Private From Professional Accounts
The best approach to managing your online brand reputation is to separate your personal posts, comments, and likes from your professional social media profiles.
This means you need to create completely separate accounts.
In many cases, you can manage your online brand reputation through business accounts. For example, create a Facebook or Instagram business page.
Separating the private from the professional will give you access to some great branding tools and resources.
It will also help you to manage your online brand reputation better and protect your personal information at the same time.
Polite & Quick Response Time
There is an expectation for online brands to be friendly and social.
In other words, you need to be active on social media as often as possible.
When a customer reaches out on social media, they expect a prompt response to their question.
Provide a polite, quick reply to consumers. This will help to develop a meaningful relationship with your audience.
It will also help to ensure you keep customers happy and coming back for more.
Learn & Improve
Like anything else in life, the only natural way to successfully manage your online brand reputation is to learn from your mistakes and improve over time.
If you make a mistake, be upfront about it to manage your online brand reputation better. Trying to cover up the problem will only upset your customers.
You’ll gain more respect by learning and improving instead of trying to hide the error.
Manage Your Brand’s Reputation Online
Managing your online brand reputation is just one of the many elements you need to consider when running a business in today’s digital landscape.
However, your online reputation is extremely important, and one that in this day and age can spell success or disaster for your brand.
So be transparent, keep personal and private accounts separate, provide polite and quick responses, and learn from your mistakes.
Using these tips will help you manage your online brand reputation and make the most of your digital success!