Four Ways To Look After Your Business Reputation
One of your greatest assets is your reputation. Maintaining it is paramount – whether you are building your reputation or putting up a valiant defense.
You should plan and implement a reputation management strategy as part of your marketing plan. It can be lost in a matter of seconds if you get it wrong. If you get it right, you will join all those companies that spring to mind as you think of successful players. The following tips will help:
Lead By Example
What makes some brands so respected and others so ambivalent? Brand awareness and perceived success are important, but how the brand communicates with the market is equally important. Ultimately, position yourself as a “thinker” in the market, and you will come to feel like the “leader” or at a minimum, the “movers”. You will considerably improve your reputation by actively participating in debates and contributing to market definition.
Make Sure Your Customers Say Good Things About You
It may seem like going back to marketing basics, but businesses often overlook the simple trick of garnering good publicity by getting other brands to spread positive words about them. If you do the work for your customers, they will willingly participate in reputation management. Good reputations still matter!
Time is everything. People who have just accepted your latest offering are primed to say nice things about you. Waiting to implement means your client will always be uncertain about your plans, no matter how good they may be. Come back with a positive case study at the end, with good comments at the beginning, middle, and end. If you have too many negative comments about your business online you may want to use guaranteed removals to help you regain your reputation.
Know Who Your Friends Are
Any business is likely to get wildly different answers when asked what the key messages are. In spite of this, most companies have people who communicate with customers who are not in sales and marketing.
How are your partners doing – are they selling? Is there a solid foundation for the market reputation they must build for you? Make sure everyone knows and understands your elevator pitch, both internally and externally, and you will succeed.
Don’t Fail On Social Media
It is imperative to manage your reputation in real-time, on the internet, now that social media is considered a “must” for business-to-business organizations of all sizes. The momentum of social media campaigns can be gained either way. Keeping your audience engaged in a debate, instead of a monologue, is the key to avoiding the “#fail.”
Uncontrolled, unedited social media can be scary. It seems so. It’s also an excellent location to manage your reputation positively and promptly if you know what people are saying about you. Get on top of stories first – lead a discussion or respond to criticism quickly – and stamp out the embers before they fuel the social fire.
Maintaining a good reputation can be just as challenging as building one. Getting top ratings can feel as risky as getting a top ranking. That’s not necessary. As long as you keep moving towards an even better reputation, then the focus is on growth, not standing still.