People trust a business more when recommended by someone, hence word of mouth marketing has been in existence and is still very essential. The penetration of the internet has made word of mouth marketing to evolve which has opened two-way communication. Today customers have a voice and the power to make or break a brand and words spreads a lot faster because of the presence of the internet. This drastic change has given rise to reputation management for businesses.
The good news for small businesses is, you do have a great opportunity to create a good repute especially as a new business, but this takes time too.
Reputation management is all about accepting feedback whether negative or positive and responding to it in a way that it does not damage your brand image. For entrepreneurs who are building a reputation from scratch, here is how to begin;
Have a blog: Put out updated articles regularly about everything you do and how it describes you as an expert. Remember, NEVER lie.
Get listed in directories: This helps to drive traffic where further reputation management techniques can take over.
Encourage reviews: reviews are very paramount as the more positive reviews a product get the more prospects it’s bound to have. Encourage customers to review your business on various online review platforms.
Gain some publicity: Put your business out there, promote it as much as possible. That’s sure way to establish reputation.
Get your business social: These days a lot of people look up information and business online before deciding to interact or do business. Endeavor to keep an active profile, that way you are likely to be found and thought of as having better reputation.
With the ever increasing use of social media and technology, it has become both easier and harder to manage your reputation. It’s harder because every customer has a public forum an audience that they can go to if they are not happy with your service; but these conversations are no longer happening behind closed doors and be addressed publicly to maintain your image. Therefore, Building a better reputation would not just happen like magic, you’re going to put in a lot work and be patient too.
Written By: Doris Aniakor