In today’s consumer-driven online climate, user-generated discussions about brands wield the power to make or break a business. In terms of reputation, one need only think back to Nestle’s epic Facebook #fail, when an overstretched Nestle Facebook admin responded to Greenpeace activists’ comments about its controversial use of palm oil with misplaced sarcasm.
Upholding a positive online reputation can be a challenging prospect for brands, armed with the knowledge that one damning review or unresolved complaint could potentially do long-term harm. Empowering stuff then, to harness content marketing tactics that can keep even a wavering online reputation on track.
1) Take ownership of conversations with a company forum
Creating a support forum where consumers can seek out information about your products or air any issues or concerns works well for most companies with a product to sell. The benefits of this approach are multi-pronged:
First and foremost, as owner of the channel you can manage, monitor and moderate all posts and exchanges.
Secondly, doing so can help keep potentially damaging content well away from Google search results.
Thirdly, offering clients and customers a space to discuss your products and service suggest a willingness to understand their needs better – just be sure to respond swiftly and appropriately to any concerns aired. One recommendation for dealing with customer complaints is to offer to resolve the problem privately; reassure your audience that they are being taken seriously, but there’s no point in dragging out the issue in the public domain.
2) When it comes to online reputation, who do consumers trust above anyone else for advice before parting with their hard-earned cash or even warming to a brand?
…other consumers
Just last week we pointed to Ecommplished findings on the pivotal role of online reviews, whereby around one third of consumers look to online reviews over peer word-of-mouth recommendation.
Even a lone bad review can be seriously detrimental to a business. Yet if that one negative review is surrounded by masses of positive recommendations, its potential to cause harm is significantly diluted.
Embark on a strategy to generate a weaponry of positive reviews from new and long-term happy customers. Perhaps issue quick email requests, preferably sent in the wake of a successful transaction. Another approach is to install review widgets on your own website, inviting customers to offer a star satisfaction rating and include a few words on their experience doing business with you. A smattering of positive reviews, especially including the “would recommend this to a friend” seal of approval, can go a long way in bolstering online reputation.
3) Look within the organisation
It’s not only dissatisfied customers or clients who can post bad reviews in the social arena. Oftentimes, disgruntled employees take to forums such as Yelp.com, albeit anonymously, to sound off misgivings about their workplace.
Similarly to tactic 1), the strategy here is to create and take ownership of a private forum where people can air grievances and ideally have them resolved without the matter leaking out in to the public realm.
Consider developing an anonymous, internal forum – appointing an HR manager or similar to monitor discussions and keep employees on-topic. Generally, this works best with dedicated forum areas relating to different business departments, with a general section for company-wide issues.
There can be little doubt that what is being discussed about your business matters, a lot. And with consumers now just as much creators of content as brands, there is little to prevent untended grievances going viral. Yet, there is good news amongst all this, and the savviest marketers are harnessing content to protect and polish their online reputation.
Photo: Raj
