5 aspects to consider for your company’s online reputation

Online reputation is nothing more than what third parties say about us or our company. We are going to focus on the online reputation of your company, which has repercussions in various aspects; as in business profitability or the positioning of your brand.

It is very important to be aware that they will always talk about us, whether we are present or not. Therefore, it is best to be participants and know if what is said about us can influence the business in a positive or negative way. 58% of executives believe that online reputation management should be addressed. In any market, managing an online reputation is a key way to achieve our goals.

External agents are part of it, over whom we cannot control what they say about us. Does this mean that we cannot improve and manage our company’s online reputation? No.  76% of companies believe their reputation is better than average. We can transmit positive content and promote actions that make others change their minds or reinforce the opinion they already have about us.

There are two aspects that we have to differentiate in this process; On one hand, the online reputation and, on the other, the brand image. Online reputation is what others say about us, while the brand image is what we say and what we want to project about our company. Therefore, as we build a good brand image, we will contribute to improving our online reputation.

What can we do to improve our online reputation?

There are some aspects that, long before digitization, have influenced our reputation, such as our employees and managers, efficiency and professionalism, as well as your company’s own clients. The last ones have become even more fundamental than advertising as studies show that 83% of buyers no longer trust advertising, but most trust recommendations from users online. If they have a good image of the company, they will positively transmit your image, promoting a good reputation.

Today, with digitization and all the facilities at our disposal, we can contribute in many more ways to boost and improve our online reputation.

Five aspects to take into consideration:

1. Social Listening

It is important to regularly monitor what third parties talk about your company. It is the only way to know if what you are doing has positive results or not and therefore helps you redirect and optimize the defined strategies.

2. Creating a website

To have a good online reputation you must have a quality website. Companies that do not have a website is not only suspicious but also loses many points. Your website is a good place for people to get to know you, and above all, communicate everything you want the people to know about what’s happening in your company as 85% of customers use the Internet to research before making a purchase. It is very necessary that it has corporate elements, a good design, and easy usability. The aim is that all users who enter your website get the best possible experience, want to come back, and recommend it. It is the key moment to start building the base of customer loyalty.

3. Presence on social networks

The effect of our personal brand if the social profiles are open and inactive, will be negative 50% of potential sales are lost because consumers can’t find the information they are looking for. Social networks have become one of the first methods to show your company to the world as 3.8 billion people are using them. It is not worth opening all social networks, only those that fit with our business model and where our target audience is. It is very important to be in the networks that are really going to get in contact with our public and to help us improve the online presence and reputation of our company.

4. Quality content over quantity

Linked to the previous premise, there is what we call “quality content”. It’s about something essential now a day to reach as many people as possible. We have to provide quality content, information, and data of interest to our audience and our potential customers.

5. Customer service

Interact with your users, understand what they need, what they ask of you, and respond accordingly. In this case, quality prevails again, but especially speed. According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, on average a dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience, while around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people. There are different software that can achieve fast and quality customer service, without the need for your workers to carry out this service.