Online Reputation Management Strategy For 2024 [A Complete Guide]

With changing times, there are different ways to grow as a business. Online reputation management is crucial for businesses in that regard and your online reputation management strategy must be optimized. An ORM strategy helps any business maintain and monitor their online presence which leads to more sales, leads, or customers. Online reputation involves a ton of factors and with the changing dynamics of the internet, you must adapt. 

Online reviews are paramount for any business these days. Facts don’t lie and in fact, 3 out of 4 consumers trust a company more if it has positive reviews, as per industry experts. You can tell by this stat that how much of a role does your online reputation management services play in your business marketing. Your business’s internet marketing relies heavily on your online reputation and you must manage it at all costs. 

This blog will specifically focus on how you can manage your company’s online reputation in 2024. Read this blog thoroughly and get knowledge on how you can direct your online reputation management strategy in 2024.  

What Sites/Platforms Should Your Business Be On?

First and foremost list your business. Yes, people on the web should know that you exist. To get reviews or ratings, list your business on local business directories or platforms that promote local businesses. There are some websites or platforms that you must list your business on. Some sites give you an extra advantage over some other websites/ platforms. Certain platforms you should list your business on are:

• Google My Business
• Facebook
• Yelp
• BBB

These websites allow you to get reviews and ratings for your business from your customers, clients, or even your employees. Specific websites are good for businesses of all types, however, there are some niche or domain-specific websites you should list your business on. These niche-specific websites vary from business to business and you have to look or search these websites as per your business type. Some examples can be:

• Amazon for any e-commerce related business. 
• Trip Advisor for food, restaurant, or travel-related business. 
• Manta is specialized in small businesses. 

Listing on these websites is the first good move that you should take. Next comes the maintenance of the reputation on these platforms. 

Try These Ways To Manage Your Online Reputation Management Strategy In 2024

 

 

To maintain your online reputation in 2024, you must adopt specific strategies to outdo your competitors. According to industry experts, over 60% of businesses don’t want to try a business with negative reviews. Therefore, your online reputation can bring or drive customers away from your business. 2024 brings new prospects in maintaining your online reputation and you must act in the following ways:

 

1. Determine Your Current Status 

First and foremost, see where you stand. You’ve made a profile on Google My Business(GMB) and other websites. Now, determine what’s your current status on them. Knowing what your current reputation is can give you a healthy start. 

If your ratings are bad, then you have a lot of work to do. On the other hand, if your ratings are good, then you can look for ways to optimize and maintain those ratings. Providing exceptional services to your customers, or clients, or anyone associated with you is important. There’s no better marketing than how you provide your services to your customers or clients. 

Therefore, knowing where to start, is a good place to begin and then proceed further.

Also, Read –

Online Reputation Management Tutorial for a Newbie
5 Vital Tools for Online Reputation Management

2.   Observe And Respond To Your Reviews Or Mentions 

You must watch and react to your mentions or reviews. Certainly, not everything will go your way. Remember that reacting to reviews/ ratings, mentions, or a question is a form of customer service. Reacting to these can largely boost your online reputation and this factor isn’t going away in 2024. 

A large number of online complaints are lodged via social media so you must optimize your support team to better use social media to answer any queries or complaints. Reacting to reviews can develop a healthy relationship between the reviewer and the company. 

On the other hand, it’s an art to handle negative reception and you should be extremely careful while handling these. Some measures you should follow while dealing with negative reception are:

1. Be professional in your reviews. People want to be heard. Be polite and don’t take the negative reception personally. Don’t blame or make excuses. Rather admit and handle the situation with grace and professionalism. If things escalate, make sure to handle the conversation privately. Give them your email or phone number and drive it away from the public eye. 
2. Always time your responses. Responding timely and accurately to your reviews or ratings can be a major player in your online reputation management strategy. You should react to all types of reviews, including negative reviews. Reacting to negative reviews can change the reviewer’s perception of your brand. Making it a two-way healthy conversation is the takeaway from this point as it also boosts your Local SEO. 
3. In case of a social crisis or when things have escalated with the public or a client, it’s much better to come up with the right response as quickly as possible. Prevention is better than cure in this case as well. But if things have escalated, act smart and act quick. Stop all your current campaigns and manage the angry mob or client first. 

3. Capitalize On Your Positive Reception 

You’ve reacted to your mentions so you’re well on your way. However, optimizing for ORM requires more than just responding. Taking advantage of your positive online presence can further optimize your online reputation. Here are some of the tactics you can undertake:

1. Use your positive reviews and testimonials as an example. You can ask clients, customers, or even your employees to share their positive feedback. Tell them to share their experience with the world. It will also encourage other clients or customers to share their feedback about your company as well. A video or a simple 4-line text can best serve this purpose. Highlighting the positive reviews can overpower the negative reception. This can boost your Local SEO rankings significantly.  
2. Make sure to use tools like BrightLocal or certain tools by Hootsuite. These tools can help you measure sentiment, monitor performance, request reviews, gain more web listing, etc. 
3. Use social media to your advantage. You have a positive reception, spread the word through your social media business profiles. Tell your employees to share it as well. Sharing positive reception from a customer on social media can go a long way as people form perceptions about brands through social media. So spreading the positive reception for your brand on social media can go a long way. 

How To Ask For Good Reviews?

There’s no shame in asking for reviews but most businesses find it tough to understand how to ask for reviews from customers. They don’t have a specific strategy in mind to do this. 87% of people read online reviews for local businesses in 2020. You know people are reading your reviews so you better make sure they are good. To do this, you must highlight your positive reviews and for this task, you can take assistance from your clients, or customers. There are numerous ways through which you can ask for reviews from your customers/clients some of which are:

1. Through Email: You should set up an email campaign with your happy clients. Firstly, thank them for their support and then in the mail, you can ask them to share their feedback. Make sure to customize it for your clients. Don’t use custom templates. Lastly, ensure to include links to your review websites, social media profiles, or email signatures in your campaigns.
2. Follow-Up Call: A call to remind your customers after some days or weeks of purchase is always a good idea. If they have something positive to tell, remind them so that they can share. After a positive deal with a customer, you can also guide your employees to ask a client or a customer to share their positive experience.
3. Printed Materials: You can remind customers through your printed material(receipts, banners, handouts) to leave a review. 

Conclusion 

If the bits of advice mentioned in this blog are followed well, you have a well-optimized online reputation management strategy for 2024. Make sure to stay connected with your customers or clients and ensure that they are heard. Always use the positive reviews to your benefit and capitalize on them.  Manage the negative reviews professionally and learn from them. Lastly, use all the tools and platforms wisely to manage your online reputation. A well-managed online reputation management strategy is good news for your business.