As children, reputation or “image” mattered a lot to most people. While seemingly important back then, those self-same “popular” kids have had their hype die out upon entering the corporate and working world. What was once perceived incredibly crucial, no longer holds—because today, more than anything, life becomes a race towards success.
For big corporate conglomerates, you may think that it’s merely about the race—which isn’t entirely true. As crucial as it is to work on goals for succeeding, a business must also focus on their image to pull it off properly. If you are an entrepreneur, you must be aware that your company’s reputation can make or break your success.
To stress this point even further, this article aims to tackle the importance of public relations and how these shape the role of online reputation management.
The Impact Of Online Reputation Management (ORM) In Digital Marketing
Think about the time you searched for a restaurant or business close by and you saw their reviews were at a star rating below two. Did you end up going to this establishment to buy something? Did this company survive with those ratings? If you answered no to these questions, you most probably know the importance of your ratings online.
Everyone relies on others’ experiences to make their own decisions. After all, they do not want to give up their hard-earned money for something that isn’t of a decent quality. A quick Google search of your company’s name will reveal the reviews that will tell you all you need to know about how your business is perceived.
Whether your employees ignored a customer or the food took too long to prepare, any minor errors are grounds for people to damage your online reputation. Therefore, you will see fewer people visiting and doing business with you—which is why it’s crucial to take note of!
Word of mouth gets around fast, especially online, so any instances that don’t meet customer satisfaction standards will damage your business.
How Do You Find Out Your Reputation?
Searching the name of a business on your preferred search engine will have the reviews pop up, as well as any bloggers who wrote about their experiences. Anything with stars above four is a positive experience for customers, which means you can either maintain practices or improve further to try to get it at five stars.
You can also check social media accounts for any posts about you by people who have patronized your business and check if your account’s follower count dwindled.
How Do I Increase My Reputation Ranking?
One highly effective way is to hire a good public relations officer who can handle your business’ interactions with consumers. People love it when brands interact with them on social media or through emails, so being proactive with your customer support team is a good way to bump up your reputation.
Remember that reviews are equivalent to gold when running a business, as these show people that your business is an excellent one to get involved with. Positive reviews and social media posts that praise you are free forms of advertising—and you won’t have to spend on campaigns if the people do it for you.
Social media managers are also great, as they can interact with your followers while you run the business and continuously improve it. They can also coordinate public relations events, which allows people to interact with your business in real-time.
Conclusion
If you run any type of business, your online ratings are one of the most important things to consider. Even if you have the best content, a nice website, and a decent store, having negative reviews and feedback are damaging—throwing all your efforts down the drain. Be sure to invest heavily in the protection of your online reputation to ensure proper growth down the line.
Varemar is the top digital agency in New Jersey, which offers website design, application design, reputation management, SEO, and more. When seeking assistance from a digital marketing agency, be sure to choose one that does it all and allows you to focus on your business itself. Get in touch with us today and manage your online reputation with us!