How should I manage my online reputation?

Posted on by
Nearly 95% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase. Reviews are therefore an important part of the consumer buying process. Without a review management strategy, as a company, you are behind the times (and literally behind your competitors), and that is putting it mildly.
Even well-performing businesses online often face low ratings on various review platforms, such as Google. This is due to some complaining customers who actively seek out a platform to share their displeasure. Result: a distorted online picture. By actively asking customers of your business to share their experience with others, you get a much more positive picture that better reflects reality.

So managing your online reputation is incredibly important, but how do you do it? In this article, some brief tips:

Ask for reviews at positive touch points

Ask your customer to leave a review at the positive moments within a customer journey. For example, after a successful delivery of the order. Wish the customer well with her product and from that perspective, ask how likely they are to recommend your company. You won't be surprised that a review asked at a moment like this turns out to be (particularly) positive. After all, the customer is happy with the, just received, product.
- Refer to the specific contact
Customers are more willing to leave a review if they see that it applies to their specific situation. In the email invitation, refer to the customer contact and contact person.
- Make it easy
Make giving a review as simple as possible. If the customer has to search for the input field to give the review themselves, they are less likely to do it. Provide a direct link to the review page and preface what to say, for example, "How likely would you be to recommend us to a friend or colleague on a score of 0 to 10?" (0 = absolutely not, 10 = absolutely yes)?" and "Would you care to state why you would or would not recommend us?
- Mention that it takes little time to participate. And make that true!
Keep it short. People drop out of long questionnaires. Don't ask a lot, but ask targeted questions.
- Request reviews for multiple and independent platforms
There are several review marketing platforms you can collect reviews on for your business, product or service, with some platforms being industry specific. Therefore, make sure your business is aligned with the platform you are collecting reviews for.

Everyone googles for someone else's experiences these days, but everyone googles differently. Therefore, it is wise to collect reviews on multiple independent platforms. After all, you never know which platform your potential customer will end up on: Google, Facebook or 5-star reviewer?
- Respond to review, even negative ones
Every negative review gives you an opportunity to acquire a positive customer. Listen to his complaint and respond discreetly and resolve it professionally. Make the customer feel that his story is being heard and he will more than appreciate your attempts at relationship repair.

The "quarantine" feature where you temporarily take an unjustifiably bad review offline so you can resolve the complaint and ask for a new review is great for this. You can reach a solution with the customer discreetly without the whole world watching.

Feeddex, more than a tool

Feeddex and subsidiary 5-star-specialist.com are specialists in online reputation management. We have the tools to collect reviews for your website and other platforms that are authentic and independent.
If you have questions or would like advice on how to deal with reviews, please contact:

Robert van Loon
✉ robertvanloon@feeddex.com
📱 06 42 61 70 33
💻 LinkedIn