How does your company’s image fare with your customer base and the public? With the rise of social media, a simple complaint gone wrong can mark the end of decades worth of work for a company. The customers of today take online reputation seriously.
Long-standing companies know the importance of a good reputation. Most companies with a positive reputation draw in good employees and customers.
A bad reputation, on the other hand, can be a formula for failure. People would not want to be associated with a brand that is thought of negatively. This is why many companies rebrand or change their business approach altogether.
Nowadays, it is easy to crumble a seemingly solid reputation. Consumers who consider themselves “woke” would not settle for any product available. These people value a brand’s vision and social commitments.
Reviews, especially those found online, could influence how people choose their brands. A whopping 97 percent of millennials check online reviews before trusting a company. Moreover, they tend to lean towards what they see online than what they hear from an acquaintance. Yet, there are companies who are not particular with image or reputation. There are those that focus on customer service. Others would focus on handling threats that have caused damage to their brand’s name.
Knowing what could harm your company’s image should be a priority. This helps them gain a competitive edge among their competitors. This is why reputation management is a sought-after service these days.
Reputation management is not like any other service from a marketing agency. While marketing, PR, and reputation management go together, they have different functions. Yet, this important task is often neglected even by the biggest companies.
Reputation management helps deal with how consumers see brands and celebrities online. It deals with the effort to influence how customers view your service based on what you want them to see. Think of it this way. Your character depends on who you truly are. Reputation is how people see you. And in the age of tech, reputation is heavily linked to search results, algorithms, and AI systems.
While your friends can attest to you being a good friend, the internet may say otherwise. Consumers who search your brand name on Google can find pictures that you wish were never posted. Things said about you on different forums can also come up when people search for you.
That was an example of reputational risk. Many companies, even household names, are at risk for such. This is where reputation management comes into the picture.
There are things reputation management pros determine when you or your brand is at risk. The ultimate goal is to keep your reputation clean without overdoing it. The bigger the (online) damage is, the more work they have to put into repairing your reputation.
The first angle will look at how your online reputation is far from your real character. Another angle would be how people’s perception of you change, and how it can be more consistent. Last would be to know the quality of coordination within your circle.
The first angle is important because your good brand or product should indeed be good. Reputation managers help you gain a positive tone as people talk about your service. It measures up to the standards that you offer. The second angle helps stabilize people’s views of your brand or service. The goal of this angle is to find a middle ground on how people talk about your brand. It should not be too positive or on the negative extreme. The final angle involves people within your company or circle. How do people within the company talk about your brand? Internal communication affects how your reputation cplans work.
If people within your inner circle do not believe in you, it will show. A worker could say something about your company to a friend that can harm your image. Worse, an employee can say something to a loyal customer that can change their mind about your brand.
The reputation of the company must be positive among its stakeholders. Stakeholders include suppliers, employees, third-party vendors, and investors. Working from within is the best approach to effective reputation management. Poor or mediocre reputations given to well-meaning brands can be troublesome. To lift a reputation means to change beliefs and expectations. But, if the brand cannot deliver, no amount of reputation management can be effective.
