To develop a successful brand takes months and years of practice, hard work, failures, small successes, turnarounds, and so on. In short, a great brand can only be developed with patience and consistency. Yet, in order to speed up your brand’s journey towards success, you should leverage efficient strategies.
One of the most important aspects that a brand relies on is its image or reputation. And, because nowadays most of the communication between brands and consumers happens online, you should pay very close attention to the way your brand is perceived by your target audience.
In today’s post, we’re giving you seven insights and ways on how to significantly improve your online reputation in an efficient manner. Remember – the more action you take, the more results you’ll obtain. Stay consistent and persevere and you’ll consistently grow your brand’s reputation, no matter what!
1. Objectively Analyze Your Brand’s Reputation
The first thing you got to do is track what people say about you, about your brand, about your products and services, and also about your customer service. When people leave comments on the web, they do it because they want other people to acknowledge their experience. So, if some of your customers had negative experiences, they’re going to spread the word and damage your brand’s reputation.
As a businessman, your job is to collect the feedback from your audience, sort it out, and eventually make changes, so that your future customers will enjoy a better experience with your products and services. You can set up Google Alerts and track down everything that’s being said about your brand in real time.
2. Focus on Obtaining Juicy Online Reviews
Analyzing and understanding what the marketplace expects from your brand is just the first process. The second is more interesting, as it requires you to take real action. Most customers are heavily influenced by other people’s opinion. For example, if you (the brand entity) were to leave a comment reviewing one of your products, people won’t take you very seriously.
However, when a reputable buyer says something positive about your products, the comment will have a much higher impact on your potential customers. Online reviews matter a lot, and they help at shifting your brand’s reputation.
Harald Johnsen is a Marketing Strategist at Resumes Planet. Here’s his advice on the matter:
“How can you get positive online reviews? Well, it’s simple and basic. Every time someone purchases something from you, get in direct touch with that person. You can do it through email or through social channels. Find his/her name and message him/her on Facebook (for example). Ask for feedback first. If it’s positive, ask the buyer to leave a nice comment on the platform you indicate.”
3. Leverage Social Influencers
Social influencers have become an important component of today’s digital marketing environment. If important or famous people endorse your products and services, your brand will receive a tremendous boost in awareness and reputation. First off, people that would probably never come across your brand will now be able to interact with you.
Secondly, when a social influencer (a person with many likes/follows) mentions a product, something happens. The “crowd effect” is activated and people will accept the products recommended without questioning. Social influencers are probably the best way to improve your online reputation in a very short time.
4. Publish Amazing Content
The quality of your content is – most of the time – directly proportional to your brand’s performance and reputation. Today’s marketplace is extremely competitive, as every professional brand is performing efficient content marketing, social marketing, and SEO marketing strategies to improve their influence and reach.
Every marketing strategy is fueled by content. Whether it’s text, image, video, or audio, it doesn’t matter. The information within the content must be valuable to your target audience, or else your brand will be useless to your prospects.
To grab the attention of a random internet user you need a catchy headline, good targeting, and a little bit of budget. To retain the attention of your website visitor, you need amazing content that is above the standards. Put yourself in the shoes of the readers and objectively decide whether the content you’ve written is impactful, useful, and relevant.
5. Network, Network, Network
I’m surprised to see a lot of professionals networking only with the people they know. Networking is definitely a broader activity. Dealing with your already existing connections and developing stronger relationships with these personalities is also essential. However, you need to step out of your comfort zone and meet new people.
Build new connections and search for new opportunities. In fact, every connection is a potential opportunity for the future. One day, a person you’ve approached two years ago could offer you the job, or partnership opportunity, of your dreams, so keep planting seeds as your career advances.
6. Participate in Niche Forums, Communities, and Groups
Another way of “planting seeds” that will benefit you in the long term is to participate in niche forums, communities, and groups. There are plenty of forums on every niche and plenty of people discussing topics related to specific fields. On forums and communities, you’ll come across a lot of problems and needs that the general audience has.
It’s the best place to collect feedback and, at the same time, reply with valuable answers. If you write relevant answers consistently, you’ll soon become an authority that people will trust. They’ll trust your advice and they will also trust your products.
Social media groups work the same. Get involved frequently and people will begin to recognize you as the brand or professional who knows what he’s talking about. Lastly, don’t forget about Q&A platforms such as Quora and Yahoo Answers.
7. Give Away Free Value Without Expecting Anything in Return
The age of intrusive marketing is over. To sell yourself today, you need to give away free value and expect very few in return. See it this way: if someone stumbles upon your content, reads it, and decides that his/her life is now changed. How will that prospect perceive you?
For them, you’ll be the brand/entity that has actually made a difference. That means that they’ll fully trust you and that you can proceed to suggest your products and services. Giving away free value that everyone can digest will tremendously boost your online reputation over time.
Conclusion
Perceive your online reputation as an important relationship – except that you’re sharing this relationship with dozens, hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people. Do things right from the beginning and people will love you. There will be haters, of course, but they seem to be everywhere, so that shouldn’t trouble you at all. Measure, test, and optimize your activities and don’t forget to be consistent!
Eva Wislow is an entrepreneur and career coach at Resumes Planet. She is on a mission to help people find their true calling. Eva maintains a strong interest in bringing the digital revolution in human resources. She finds her inspiration in writing and peace of mind through yoga.
