Reputation Management is MORE than Reviews…

Although reviews are an important component of influencing a buying decision, consumers determine if a company is “reputable” from more than just a star rating. When a prospect types your company name into Google, what will they find? A quick search for a company’s brand name will naturally return more than just reviews. News, directory listings, social media profiles, social mentions and ratings will be displayed in the search results, giving consumers an impression of how established and active your company is compared to your competition.

Are You Losing Prospects To Your Competitor?

Why increase visibility in search engines in order to get more leads, if you have negative comments/reviews about your business that poison a prospective customer’s perspective before you even get a chance to build a relationship with them?

Or, even worse, why spend thousands to gain greater visibility in search engines if you have no comments/reviews about your business and so your competition is able to control the online conversation for your market as defined by search keywords?

As you can see, managing your online reputation or “Reputation Management” should be your first priority.

The scope of “Reputation Management” defined in this manner is much larger than just reviews. In fact, studies show that it includes the following factors:

Visibility

Are you easily found in search engines, including Google, Bing and Yahoo as well as local search such as Google Plus and Yahoo Local for the keywords your ideal customers are searching for? Is your business accurately listed in Review sites and Business directories? Is your business accurately listed in hundreds of these directories to maximize your online visibility and authority and standing with the search engines?

Reviews

After making sure your business is accurately listed (business name, address, phone and website as shown EXACTLY on your website) in as many review sites as possible, are you monitoring your reviews 24/7/365 for both positive and negative comments and engaging with the reviewers, especially if they leave a negative comment? Do you have a thoughtful, effective customer reviews program in place to motivate customers to leave positive reviews to make sure you can compete with your competition and establish a balance in case of any negative reviews in the future?

Mentions

Do you have an effective program in place to generate a consistent stream of social media posts, images, news releases, videos and articles about your business? If not, you will not be able to dominate the conversation about your line of business in your market, nor will you be able to control the conversation about your business – and thus your reputation.

Social Media

Are you engaging with your customers and prospects – building an online relationship with them? If you fail to socialize with them and your competitor does – where will that leave you? It will leave your competitor with the ability to define the market, control the “frame of reference” for the discussion regarding the services you provide and ultimately control the frame for reference for the discussion about your business. If your competitor defines the decision parameters for your prospects and customers – ho will you compete if they favor the competition?

Share of Voice

Which of the businesses you compete with online will dominate the market and attract the most new customers? The competitor who commands the largest “share of voice,” or the one who has the most visibility, most positive reviews, mots news releases, image posts, video posts, articles and greatest social media engagement and activity on the search engine results pages for the keywords used by the largest number of buyers of your product or service. Will that be you?

There are 2 sources and voices in the online conversation:

1. What YOU are saying about your company online
2. What OTHERS are saying about your company online

Halo Effects reputation management services create positive conversations about your company online by leveraging both of these sources. First, we create a media plan that drip feeds a steady stream of reviews and communications through multiple online channels including news, social media, videos and business directories. Second, we engage with your fans and potential customers by creating conversations about your products, services and brand. Third, we implement a process for soliciting reviews and driving social interactions through sweepstakes, contests and giveaways.

To get a snapshot of your business’ current online reputation, contact Halo Effects and request a free online visibility report that provides a comprehensive view of what potential customers will find (or not find) when searching for you online.