With Inbound Marketing, we talk a lot about how to develop content to allow your customers to find you. But how about when people have discovered you and they are not so happy with what they found? That is when you enter the world of online reputation management and yes- what a tough world that can be.
By putting into place some basic practices, you can not only mitigate bad publicity, but use it to turn dissatisfied customers into satisfied ones. To do this, here are some tricks you should know.
Treat Your Search Results Like Treasure
You can’t possibly control all that is said about you online. Find out what is being said about you online through your search results. Make it a regular practice to search your company and see what comes up. The first page is of primary importance because that is the bread and butter that most of your potential customers will see when learning about you online. If the first or second page is peppered with negative results, don’t panic, there are ways to deal with this issue that we will touch on later.
Tip: Use a Google Chrome Incognito window when conducting this search so your search isn’t influenced by your search history. This way you can see a more generic view that is closer to what your users might see.
Claim Your Name
There are many online places where your company may have a presence. Is your company listed on Yelp? Glassdoor? Crunchbase? You should claim whatever online directory or review site listings you can. Most have a link that allows you to do this easily. Owning these pages makes it easier to respond to negative comments posted there.
Follow Your Social Conversations
Keeping track of what’s being said about you on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is a mammoth task, but there are tools out there that can make the job easier. One the easiest and most powerful tool we know of is Hubspot’s Social Inbox. Once you connect your social media accounts to this tool, you can view all types of interactions in one stream (new comments, tweets, follows, retweets), or you can view each stream separately by using HubSpot’s convenient filtering. With these streams you can keep track of when your business is being mentioned and by whom, making your online reputation management much more manageable!
These are all good ways to keep track of what is being said about you. But, what do you do if you find negative items? Here are some golden rules to help you deal with your online reputation management effectively.
Speak to Your Audience
When you see something online that reflects badly on your brand, don’t run away from criticism but treat it as an invitation to reach out and be part of the conversation. By addressing it publicly, you show that you care about what people are saying and that you take it as an opportunity to be transparent in your business operations. By continually monitoring your social arena, you can also respond to any complaints quickly and address it in a way that is empathetic and responsive.
For example, a quick response to a customer complaint via Twitter, can be as simple as “We are aware of the problem. We are working on it and will get back to you as soon as possible.”
Keep the Content Flowing
If you are following Inbound Marketing best practices, you are already pumping out a lot of good content online. Remember, your blog posts are search engine gold and, if done right, can populate your search results with the kind of information you want your buyer personas to find.
You can even use a forum to allow your customers to reach out to you directly so that you can address any concerns or complaints they might have. Any opportunity you can take to direct the flow of the conversation about your company means that any negative content that might be out there will be overshadowed by the content you want to be seen.
SEE ALSO: INBOUND MARKETING MADE EASY
Turn Your Customers Into Advocates
By following an Inbound Marketing approach, one of your end goals is to create devoted followers. Encourage your happy customers to write reviews on your website and other social media/review forums. You can't hide bad reviews, but you can overshadow them with honest feedback from your loyal community.
