How to use online reputation management to increase sales?
Online reputation management is a key factor in building Online Marketing strategies, for all the right reasons. Any leading experienced Digital Marketing company will definitely focus on managing the online reputation along with working on their client’s – SEO, Paid Marketing, E-mail marketing etc.
What is Online Reputation Management?
ORM or Online Reputation Management or Reputation Marketing is the methodology strategized to build or improve a brand’s perception on it’s users, other organizations or any other online entity.
By working on ORM a brand can shape up a positive influence of it’s products or services on it’s prospects and consumers.
How can Online Reputation Management Increase Sales this Diwali season?
Online Reputation can make or break a building connection with your consumer or your client.
Therefore, it becomes extremely important to get hold of the right tactics to scale up your brand’s Online Reputation. Moreover Diwali season is all about buying and giving gifts and decorating the house with warmth and decorative items.
For this reason it becomes even more important for the business owners to have their online profiles right in place. So that when a consumer visits their business page or their business profile on various platform he/she returns convinced from there.
There are many ways to correct or build your online reputation and we are going to discuss some of them here.
#1. Work on Online Reviews
Online reviews are very effective in turning a prospect into a sales.
When a new customer visits your page or profile he looks for signs and features to convince him of the products or the services he wishes to buy. One sure shot way for the consumer to find the truth about the service or quality of products or services offered s to read the online reviews shared by existing customers.
Therefore it becomes extremely important for the business owners to ask for reviews from their existing customers.
Here are a few methods for asking of reviews:
- Just as a customer completes a purchase send out automated review requests.
- Build a small review form and send it out to your clients or fix it on your website.
- Include a review widget on your contact page or services/products page.
- Draft a few review email templates for different products and services and send them to your clients.
- Ask for reviews candidly when you meet the client in person.
As per a recent study by BrightLocal reviews pay a lot of importance in maintaining Online Reputation Management.
These numbers clearly show the importance and impact of reviews on the purchasing decision of the consumers.
One more important fact here is that Negative Reviews are hurtful, in fact very hurtful. But they are not the end of your online reputation.
Work on getting more positive reviews so that the negative ones get drowned in the pool of positive reviews. Learn more on how to combat negative reviews.
#2. Grow your social profiles
As per a study, the percentage of local consumers that rely on internet to find local businesses has increased from 95% in 2016 to 97% in 2017.
Therefore, it is very clear from these numbers that with the growing percentage of users relying on internet for finding local businesses, the impact of reviews on sale has also increased.
A brand cannot just trust a single platform and work constantly on building reputation there.
This will certainly not work, and the below chart explains clearly why:
There is no one site in totality which is loved by the consumers. In fact it is clear that Yelp and Facebook are the most loved ones for getting reviews. But the others are important too.
This is because every consumer is different. And therefore, he/she can go to any of the review sites to read what other consumers have to say about you.
Make profiles on different sites and make sure the information about your business, on all the sites is accurate.
#3. Placement of Ads on your website
Use the ads on your website only if it is absolutely necessary. The unnecessary ads popping up on your website are very annoying. And are a very important reason for the consumers to turn their back towards your site.
This study makes it even more clear how badly consumers dislike the ads on website or otherwise.
It is absolutely clear from the above chart that the most disliked ads are the online pop-up ads and the ads on a mobile page.
Hence, try to avoid these online ads to boost your online reputation.
#4. Respond to complaints or negative reviews publicly
If your customer or client had an unpleasant experience with the customer service or the product or service purchased, then it is very much likely of him dropping a negative review.
This can be a tricky situation for the business owners. And it is extremely important for the owners to understand the gravity of the review and respond smartly and publicly to it.
Simply ignoring the review isn’t the best solution to this concern.
Rather, it is best advised to tackle the negative review with patience and maturity, after understanding the concern completely.
Never get into an argument with the customer as it does not look right on a social platform. Remember the ground rule of;
Customer is the king!
Therefore, address the issue and try to resolve it in the most polite and genuine manner.
Here is an example of how to respond to a negative review:
As you can see the owner acknowledged the customer’s complaint and made efforts to resolve it in the most genuine and appropriate manner.
#5 Track your Online Reputation Status
How will and in what way will you work on your online reputation management if you do not even know if it’s positive or negative?
You must be thinking that since you track reviews on one or two sites you are well covered for the status of your online reputation.
NO.
This is not enough.
Owners need to have a proper track of the reviews and comments from all over the internet. And for this purpose it is recommended for the business owners to use tools like Google Alerts and Rankur to track their online reputation thoroughly.
#6 Keep working on the good old blogging
Blogging has many benefits for SEO and improving Online Reputation is one of them.
By posting blogs on your website you are creating qualitative inbound and outbound links. And as a decent experience in a SEO company in Delhi, I can say that link building does wonders for SEO campaigns.
Enhance your blog page by posting interesting content with infographics. This way you can be benefited a step further when someone republishes your content.
This way your site’s authority increases, ultimately making positive online reputation of your business.
#7 Collaborate with Social Influences
Social Influencers have great followers. And when you collaborate with them for your product or service it is obvious that your product/service will be seen by more users. This means more visibility, hence more chances of sales.
Another reason is that, when users see their favorite celebs using your product/service then it works miracles in convincing them to use your product/service.
Therefore, more conversions.
Promote your product/service on a social influencer’s page wherein he/she is using and loving your product/service. This works as a great online reputation booster.
#8 Boast your Client Testimonials
Users love to read reviews from fellow buyers.
Therefore, share the love you get from your clients in the form of Testimonials on your website.
To make it more convincing try and add reviews from authority holders in a particular domain/industry.
For instance;
If you get a testimonial from big-shot position holder from a well known brand then it will be more convincing than a testimonial from a lesser known name.
What next?
Although I have highlighted all the key points for building or improving a company’s online reputation management. But to work on all the points isn’t always a one-man’s-thing.
Therefore hire a digital marketing agency who can assist you with creating and improving your online reputation so as to increase sales and conversion.
