In many people’s minds, the term “reputation management” brings up imagery of crisis situations – for example, a company CEO having said something deeply controversial on social media, and the brand having to manage the resultant backlash.
The most effective brand reputation management, however, starts long before any such “crisis situations” occur, and can help prevent them from arising at all.
It isn’t only large, public-facing companies that can – and should – have a reputation management strategy. However, in order to devise a strategy that enables you to “own” much of the space in which your brand is talked about online, you will need to take some steps to audit your organisation’s current reputation.
In other words, you’ll need to discover what is already being said about your brand. For the sake of simplicity, we’ve picked out a few ways to accomplish this for your firm’s online reputation – although of course, the offline dimension of reputation management is crucial, too.
Search for your brand online
It’s a simple starting point, but a vital one; determine which search engines are the most important ones in your part of the world, and use them to perform a search for your brand name.
Hopefully, the first page of the search results will present links to your own website and blog, as well as other pages that your business has some degree of control over, such as its social media profiles and reputable review sites.
Much of your online reputation management approach is likely to be about ensuring as large a proportion of this first page as possible is made up of results you can control or influence.
Specifically seek out the not-so-positive press
This inevitably requires a certain amount of bravery! But by performing searches for your brand name alongside terms like “reviews”, “alternatives”, and “scam”, you might be able to uncover some forum posts or reviews that aren’t so complimentary about your organisation.
As you carry out these searches on Google, also keep an eye out for any “People also ask” entries that may appear. These are based on questions that Google searchers commonly ask, so they can provide further useful insights into people’s thoughts about your brand.
Check that your brand’s online business listings are accurate – and favourable
As you look around the web gauging your brand’s present reputation, you are likely to come across various business profile listings that you can “claim”. The most obvious example might well be your Google Business Profile (the feature formerly known as Google My Business).
Your firm’s Google Business Profile is likely to appear when you perform a search for your brand name. So, there is an opportunity here to double-check that any factual items shown – such as your physical address and opening times – are accurate. You can also take a look at the reviews displayed there, and respond to any queries in the nearby “Questions & answers” section.
Taking the above steps can help you begin the habit of proactively monitoring and managing your organisation’s reputation across the Internet. To learn more about how our reputation management services at Jumping Spider Media can help you exercise maximum control over your corporate image online, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.