How reputation management benefits you and your customer

In this digital day and age, creating and sustaining a positive brand image is one of the prime factors that influences your target audience’s purchase decision. Here’s where Reputation Management comes into play for businesses. It allows you to establish authenticity and credibility for your brand and customers. Hence, it is crucial to constantly monitor your public image and ensure that your content is safe and relevant for everyone in the community. 

In this post, we’ll look into what reputation management is, the need for it and how beneficial it can be for growing your business and expanding your consumer base. 

1. What is Reputation Management?

Reputation Management is known to be the process of influencing public discourse and stakeholder views of an organization and its brands. It involves keeping an eye on conversations and perceptions, responding to risks threatening reputation, and actively embracing opportunities to improve brand image.

Most company functions are involved in reputation management in some way as part of an overall organizational strategy, including customer experience, eCommerce marketing, and communications sales and commitment.

What does a reputation manager do?

A reputation manager is in charge of monitoring and addressing internet conversations regarding an organization. These can include blogs, message boards, web pages, and more.

2. Why Do You Need Reputation Management?

Since the inception of the internet and social media, businesses, and brands have witnessed a massive transformation in their ways. As per a very recent report by Statista, more than 5 billion people used the internet as of April 2022, making up 63.1 percent of the global population. Out of this total, 4.7 billion people, or 59% of the global population, are avid social media users. This statistic alone can be a reason why businesses need to have solid reputation management solutions.

With the inception and increasing power of social media worldwide, the image of a brand today is everything. Hence, businesses have to invest time, energy, and resources to maintain their reputation in the long run. And this is where reputation management comes into the picture!

2.1 How quickly does online reputation management provide results?

This can vary. The time it takes for substantial effects linked to your internet reputation to emerge—which might last anywhere from a few weeks to a year—will depend on whether or not there is a significant amount of bad content online.

2.2 How much does reputation management cost?

Depending on the goals of a company, the price of reputation management might vary greatly. Anything from software that automatically scans websites to a full-time employee might be used for reputation management.

3. The Benefits of Reputation Management

Now that we have established the significance of reputation management, let’s look into how it can be beneficial for your eCommerce business and your customers:

3.1 Transparency 

One of the key goals while structuring your business or a brand name is to build trust among your target audience. In order to succeed, the prerequisite for this is to be communicative, real, and transparent with your customers. Showing transparency in pressing matters demonstrates that you are a business that cares, shows vulnerability, and is accepting criticism or mistakes. Additionally, a company needs to consider feedback from its customers seriously and establish concrete communication with them. Hence, it is imperative to have proper reputation management that also augments your customer acquisition in your user’s purchase journey.

Another critical factor in displaying transparency and acknowledgment of an issue is timing. It is advisable to address feedback, particularly negative feedback as soon as possible. Businesses must understand that when there has been a mistake, these issues are time-sensitive.

What is an example of reputation management? You may be asking.

Nestlé was confronted with criticism of their environmental policies a few years ago, and they chose not to respond. The Nestlé public page had to be shut down as people became violent and posted modified versions of the Nestlé logo. The main takeaway here is that as a major brand, you cannot act as though others are not speaking, take accountability, and respond to criticism as quickly as you can.

3.2 Credibility

Brand image can be extremely fragile. It may take months or years to build a respectable image among your audience but it is only a moment to lose everything you have worked towards. Strong reputation management solutions can help manage this better. Hence this is why businesses require a successful review management strategy. 

Building a favorable review presence on key review platforms is crucial given that customers now place greater confidence in online reviews. According to a recent study, 87% of customers read internet reviews of businesses. Additionally, 92% of customers are more likely to lose faith in your company and choose a competitor if they come across poor brand reviews. 

What are some review platforms for eCommerce businesses in 2022?

• Bazaarvoice
• Wiremo
• Yotpo
• Trustpilot
• Power Reviews
• Stamped 
• Reviews.io

3.3 Opportunities 

When prospective clients look up your business on search engines, they are not only going to browse through your website but also other information such as articles, competitors, statistics, and most importantly reviews and ratings by an eCommerce industry influencer. Hence, it is key to ensure that these comments are clean and positive as these can subsequently lead to conversions and sales from the customer. 

3.4 Better Talent

Having a good reputation not only attracts potential customers but it is also more appealing to employees. Having a positive digital presence and managing reviews about your business online are ways to draw the attention of quality employees. In actuality, only about 30% of suitable individuals are known to take a position with a business with a poor image. 

Intrinsically, good employees choose to work for organizations and leaders they can trust and whose basic principles align with their core values. Additionally, establishing a solid reputation can assist you in reaching these likely prospects and assembling the team you need to thrive with.

3.5 Conversions and Profits 

Online reviews on the internet are essential for instituting trust among your customers. Enhancing customer ratings and reviews can significantly increase your revenue. Nowadays, gaining more customers and boosting profitability depends on having favorable reviews and ratings on sites like Google, Yelp, and Facebook. 

According to research from Harvard Business School, your revenue margins could potentially rise by as much as 9% for every extra star rating you receive on Yelp. In other words, how you handle your internet reputation could have a big impact on your earnings and prospects, thereby impacting your profits. 

3.6 Business Revenue 

Today, the eCommerce industry is easily one of the most competitive industries. Hence, brand perception is everything. Sustaining your reputation across digital and social media has a very direct correlation with your revenue, sales, and engagement online. In the long run, developing a solid reputation and safeguarding your brand can aid in saving money by eliminating the need for pricey marketing and advertising initiatives.

As we are transitioning away from conventional marketing ways, it is of vital importance to position your business in a positive light and work towards interacting with your customers more often than ever. 

4. The Bottom Line of Reputation Management

To sum up, a sound reputation management plan can amplify your business in various ways. With the correct business strategy, you can build the online persona you need to increase credibility, fortify bonds with others, advance professionally, and attract superior talent. Businesses and brands with a robust corporate reputation can enhance client loyalty, increase brand authority, and can differentiate themselves from the competition.

It is not the goal of reputation management to ‘hide’ unfavorable comments. It’s about assisting in preserving a true and favorable customer perception. 

Over time, it can assist you in modifying, restoring, and enhancing your brand. Reputations on a personal and professional level can be attacked and hurt. Still, they can also be repaired, giving you access to the numerous benefits a good internet image has to offer. Maintaining a stellar reputation is worthwhile given how vital it is to your career.