5 things we learned at our last Level UP Workshop on digital reputation management
Tahoe Chamber | August 27, 2018 | Chamber News
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In the not-so-distant-past, South Shore business owners wondered if the patron that just walked out of their businesses’ door would tell a few friends about their experience.
Now, that same patron can walk out the door and tell the entire world about your business with a few clicks of the button. Will they have good or bad news to share? Will they give a one-star or five-star rating?
Consider this: 97 percent of consumers looked online for local businesses in 2017 and nearly half of those consumers need at least a four-star rating before choosing a business according to BrightLocal, and an additional one-star Yelp review causes a 5-9 percent increase in revenue according to a Harvard Business School working paper.
It’s become clear that what people say about your business online is just as—if not significantly more—important than what they say in person.
That’s what makes digital reputation management so important. And that’s why that very topic was the latest subject in the Chamber’s Level UP Workshop series. Georgette Hartley, a Reno-Tahoe area digital marketing consultant, presented the workshop in June. Here are five things we learned:
- Go undercover
Use incognito mode and go undercover, pretending you are a consumer searching for your business for the first time. How quickly does your company appear in a Google search? Is the name, address and hours listed correctly? If you were the consumer, would you want to go to your business based off of what you see online? Asking these questions is a good starting point to understanding your digital reputation.
- Create a system to track your digital reputation
Some websites will track and monitor your digital reputation for a fee. There are ways to do it yourself, too. Register as the owner of your business on all review accounts (Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor) and set alerts to notify you when reviews come in. Take screenshots of search or review pages of your business and compare them each week. Is your company’s website listed higher or lower on a search page? Did your star ranking improve? Create an Excel sheet to monitor your findings and observe trends.
- Put your best foot forward
Create a marketing or communications strategy that promotes the reputation you want. Tell your own story through your website, social media accounts, or blogs. Not only will this help actively promote your desired reputation, the content should improve your search engine optimization (SEO), too.
- Responding to reviews
There are three types of reviews and you’ll want to tailor a strategy for responding to each of them.
Positive reviews: You don’t need to respond to every single good review, but you should for many. Thank them for their business and review, and invite them back. Share your good reviews on your website or social media.
Negative reviews: Responding to negative reviews shows that you care both about the customer and your business. It also significantly increases the chance the reviewer will return to your business.
Although it might be tempting to respond in caps lock, take a minute to calm down. Then, lead with an earnest apology (even if it’s not your fault). Learn to be open to feedback and criticism and reply publically with a transparent post. Remind them that their experience is unusual and won’t happen again. Offer to go offline to address their concerns. And finally, hold yourself accountable to any changes you’ve promised to make.
Fake reviews: Four-of-five people have read a fake review in the last year and most of them didn’t even know it. This is a problem. If you spot a fake review about your company, you should try to flag the review as fake. If the website won’t take it down, then it’s time to respond—calmly, again. Explain why the review is fake: we don’t even offer this product; we have no records of you as a customer.
- Don’t hide from your digital reputation
You can’t opt out of having a digital reputation. It’ll be there regardless of how you feel or how busy you are. Considering your business could sink or swim with every review and post, every step taken to manage and promote your digital reputation is worth it.