Disclaimer: Invest in building a reputation as a reliable business, and your clients will come to you without extra marketing efforts.

Reputation is hard to build but easy to ruin. Modern businesses running online campaigns do their best to work on such things as business image and brand awareness. Why? People trust those whom they have known for some time and who make all the processes transparent for the customers. If you show you care about the quality of your product or service as well as the interests of your customers, clients will gradually rely on you and recommend you to their peers. With time, you will not need resources to invest in marketing; your reputation will do all the work.

What is online reputation management?

Online reputation management is the scope of strategies and methods to monitor and improve the image your business has online and the way it influences the choice of customers. The BrightLocal survey of 2022 outlined the following statistics:

• 98% of the respondents read the reviews of local businesses.
• While browsing for reviews, consumers go to Google, Yelp, and Facebook.
• Respondents address the review platforms in search of service businesses and healthcare providers (84% and 82%, respectively).
• 35% of respondents used online sources to check the reviews multiple times a week in 2021, compared to 25% in 2020.

Overcoming the shock of the coronavirus pandemic, consumers decided to stay online. Therefore, having an Internet presence is crucial for modern businesses to keep afloat.

Reputation management involves maintaining a modern website and keeping it responsive and user-friendly, as well as social media accounts. Besides, online interaction with customers is important in terms of speed of reaction, customer-oriented approach, and the amount of free useful content for building customer loyalty. The levels of competition are skyrocketing, so there is only one chance to make a positive first impression before your leads leave your page and never come back.

Tips to maintain an online reputation

1. Find and respond to existing reviews: The first step in the process of managing your online presence is to check this presence. Simply Google your business and look through the results. Verify that the contact information is accurate, pay attention to the reviews, if they are positive or negative. Check for reviews on popular platforms, such as Google My Business, Amazon, TripAdvisor, depending on the business industry your company is in.Respond carefully to all the reviews, both positive and negative. It will show you care and allow you to monitor the levels of customer satisfaction. Only replying to bad reviews may give the impression that you are primarily concerned with damage management, while only responding to positive reviews will show that you have nothing to offer a dissatisfied consumer.Write a polite “Thank you” note as a relevant reply for a positive review. Try your best to influence a situation with a negative review. Study the details, acknowledge the issue, apologize, and offer a discount if it is applicable. Stay polite and responsive. According to the ReviewTrackers survey of 2022, 53% of customers expect a reaction to their negative reviews within a week. Therefore, monitor review platforms regularly. This is important for both new start-ups and long-lasting service providers.
2. Encourage customers to write reviews: There are never too many reviews. Encourage customers to leave reviews, especially if they are satisfied with the service. You may think of an incentive for customers to make the process more pleasant. It may be a discount, a special offer, or some other bonus. Do not be afraid to ask.The more human interaction you have with your clients, the more likely they are to see a person in you, not just a company looking forward to high revenues. Loyal clients tend to bring their peers to you. However, do not be overly pushy and make the questionnaires (if you decide to offer them) short and precise.Another option is to include a short automated questionnaire into an interactive voice response system.
3. Monitor competitors: Know your competitors to stand out. If you are considering the extension of functionality, monitor your rivals for similar features. Read their reviews and think of what you can do better.Never engage in hostile behavior toward your rivals since it will harm your standing in the industry. On the other hand, working with certain comparable businesses and service providers may introduce your goods to new markets and enhance your brand's reputation. If you work in the sphere of catering, you may partner with entertainment companies. You will probably come up with a turnkey offer for the domain of events management.Guest posts or interviews with competitors or clients are also interesting for the target audience.
4. Create content: Blogs are perfect tools to demonstrate your expertise and provide customers with free assistance. Besides, blogging will lead you to satisfying SEO results. Make sure your content is related to your product and diverse. Explore other blogs for interesting topics. Be entertaining occasionally. Show you are a true expert in the sphere.For e-commerce, it is important to show your private life, as people like to buy from people and to know the details of the production process or some facts about how you have come up with a business idea. It does not mean you should be too open, though. Your followers will soon become weary of your breakfast-related stories and continuous web feeds of your everyday activities.Be unique. Stealing content is detrimental for Google algorithms, as well as it will undoubtedly lower your ranking when comparing your offering to that of a rival.
5. Stay up-to-date and honest: The digital world is never still. To keep up with modern tendencies, you should always improve your qualifications. Learn about the latest trends in storytelling, explore modern applications for creating video content, let alone constantly improve your professional skills. Therefore, you will be able to compete with newcomers in your industry, and existing clients will not turn to them.Be honest and transparent. Avert any dubious gurus that promise to quickly increase your live audience as well as any tools that purge platforms of bad reviews. Nobody can promise you the outcomes you expect. Sadly, they frequently do the exact reverse.
6. Explore useful tools: Applying reliable tools for tracking the results of your efforts is a smart idea. Google Analytics will provide you with free data regarding your website visitors and customer interaction with your landing pages. You will get valuable insights on how to improve the ROI of your business or increase conversion rates. There are other free tools for measuring your online presence. Plunge into the functionality and select the best match. The Dialics call tracking platform is capable of not only monitoring the online reputation of a company but also assisting in the process of setting up advertising campaigns. With Dialics, your business can get the following benefits:
   • transparent analytical data regarding the ongoing online and offline ads
   • quantitative data on the number of leads generated by each of your traffic channels
   • customizable IVR to automate processes and receive honest and immediate feedback
   • call recordings to listen to customer reviews and focus on performance enhancements
   • possibility to expand the business internationally

If you have any questions about the functionality of Dialics, do not hesitate to request a demo. We provide a free trial period for users to get familiar with our product and make a thoughtful decision. Read more about the possibilities of Dialics for various kinds of business in our blog.