Do’s & Don’ts of Online Reputation Management

If you own a business and want it to do well, you must market your services and products on social media. And once your business is on social media, you become vulnerable to the good and bad publicity you get from either satisfied or dissatisfied customer. Dissatisfied customers can blow up your Facebook or Twitter feed which is in the open for everyone to read and can create a negative image for your brand. Thus managing your brand’s reputation efficiently is of utmost importance for the health of your business.

Here are few Do’s & Don’ts about how to proactively manage your company’s online reputation:

Let’s start with the Don’ts:

• Don’t get rattled by bad reviews and don’t panic. The last thing you want to do is lose your cool and try to retaliate.
• Don’t shift your focus immediately to that one complaint and leave your important work for later, in turn doing more damage to your business.
• Don’t just delete any negative comments/complaints without examining
• Don’t admit anywhere that you are wrong and it was completely your company’s fault. Doing that is not going to get the complaint removed and it may cause further trust issues with current and potential customers.
• Don’t lose motivation and take few negative reviews as a sign that your business is a failure.
• Don’t ever pay for reviews as it’s not an ethical practice and paid reviews often look spammy or fake.

Now the Do’s:

• Do ask for forgiveness and apologize for the inconvenience caused to the user and also give them a word that their problem will be fixed soon in near future.
• Do your best to resolve and close the complaint ASAP. Trying to reach out to the complainant and resolving the issue publicly will show that you take your customer’s satisfaction seriously.
• Do respond professionally to both positive and negative comments. Try to personally tailor your responses according to the client and make a positive image for your brand.
• Do ask for online reviews from satisfied clients. Users tend to give reviews when it is easy and quick for them. You can do that by sending them the links to several online platforms like Yelp and ask them to leave a review.
• Do share the good information about your business such as favorable stats or testimonials. You can also make a video or a blog about your brand’s achievements or any positive news which show your brand in a good light.

We hope these tips about online reputation management will guide you to manage the negative press properly by maintaining your integrity and professionalism.