Last Updated on February 11, 2021 by tJMgqCih1t

Online reputation management isn’t just about knowing how to tweet or having a website. With digital strategies evolving, social media as a marketing medium on the rise, and the ever-increasing popularity of review sites such as Yelp, monitoring your online brand is important.

What is Online Reputation Management?

Online reputation management involves monitoring the publicity around your site, as well as the content that you publish, and ensuring that the image you present and the one the public holds of you are consistent.

Storytelling at a Glance

You need to think of your brand as a way to tell the world your story. Make it clear and to the point. Your main focus shouldn’t leave too much to the imagination. You want to paint a picture where you clearly identify both yourself, your passions and your product so your audience gets to know you In order to be successful, you have to be in touch with yourself and your business. Knowing your company inside out and understanding the most effective ways of presenting it to the public are essential. The more in tune you are with your business, the better equipped you are to communicate your story.

Practice What You Preach

When managing your brand, you need to be the example. You need to be living proof of your product and stand behind it 100 percent. When developing your brand, the last thing you want to be a hypocrite. Make sure that you, your employees and anyone who partners with your company embodies the values and supports the ideas that your company represents.

The Trust Factor

Trust is the foundation of all relationships, and managing a successful brand means building trust with your target audience, the general public and your colleagues. One surefire way to gain trust is to deliver on your promises. If you say you are going to do something, make certain to follow through. If you offer money back guarantees, for example, make sure that is done in a fast and easy manner. If customers have to jump through hoops in order to have you fulfill something that’s advertised openly, it won’t bode well for your reputation. Your words speak first in business, but your actions are what makes them matter.

Monitoring Your Online Reputation

After you’ve built trust with your target audience, you might feel that it’s okay to slack off when it comes to monitoring your online reputation. As luck may have it, this is usually when surprises occur and challenge the image you’ve worked to build. The only way to stay in the driver’s seat is to continually monitor your online presence.

The first step in online reputation management is knowing who’s saying what about your brand. To accomplish this, first you need to identify keywords and hashtags that are relevant to you brand, employees and competitors so you can monitor the conversations taking place on the major social media platforms. After you’ve gained insight to what’s being said about your brand, you need to respond quickly and appropriately. Oftentimes, knowing what people are saying is enough to help you make decisions to better customer-based decisions.

Bright Past knows how delicate the balance is between your audience and the integrity of your brand. Negative content can damage everything you’ve worked so hard to build. Staying in tune with your audience can be the difference between mediocre success of your brand or becoming a household name, so get to know the pros behind the business who can help make sure your business is always wearing its best and brightest face.