A few years ago, online communication (i.e. how businesses were engaging with their customers) looked quite different.<\/p>\n
Now that everyone has a platform from which to voice their opinions, ideas and customer experiences, it is ESSENTIAL that business owners proactively \u2018manage\u2019 these interactions via social media and online reviews. And it can actually be dangerous for your business to ignore what is being said online.<\/p>\n
This is the basic premise of Reputation Management, and by considering this element as part of your overall marketing strategy you could also be gaining some powerful opportunities to grow your brand and encourage customer loyalty.<\/p>\n
Reputation Management is about consistently monitoring your online reputation and being on top of what is being said. It means embracing customer feedback and being prepared for all types of reviews, as it\u2019s really important to know how and when to respond to each situation. Ideally your responses should be pre-planned to ensure consistent messaging, and an ability to respond without emotion (in cases of negative reviews).<\/p>\n
It can be quite time consuming to monitor and respond to all reviews, tweets and comments across your social media platforms and listings, so sometimes it is worthwhile outsourcing your online reputation management. This is particularly relevant and useful if you run a type of business that is likely to attract regular reviews (i.e. restaurants are a perfect example) and you want to protect, restore or maintain your public image.<\/p>\n