Achieving business success in 2023 means knowing how to maximise your online reputation. The Internet is a vast and often ungovernable information channel that can make or break a company reputation. With the growth of social media in particular, there are so many ways that a company’s reputation can be damaged. And while it’s not always possible to totally control what others say about your brand or business, there are key reputation mistakes that you can avoid in order to protect your online reputation.
Does your online reputation matter?
In a word, yes! Online reputation has never been more important, particularly for smaller brands and small business owners. Disgruntled customers, online commenters, media outlets or just Internet trolls can do a great deal of damage to the online reputation of an individual or a business.
For businesses, this can be the difference between success and failure. At Igniyte, we work with lots of different sized companies across multiple sectors, and have identified not only just how important online reputation is to the bottom line, but also the online reputation mistakes to avoid.
Online defamation can be an enormous problem for a small business or brand. This means that business owners need to monitor and manage online reviews appropriately, but also ensure that they’re on top of any damaging allegations and know what’s going on internally. Basic errors can quickly spiral into online reputation problems.
What can damage your online reputation?
A company’s online reputation can be influenced and damaged by myriad issues. These include:
- Negative customer reviews, which are seen by potential new customers.
- Regulatory or compliance problems that become local or national news.
- Poor PR, including (but not limited to) statements made by C-suite management or employees misusing social media to bad mouth the business – ‘cancel culture’ isn’t just for celebrities.
- Negative chat on social media, from customers, trolls or simply bad faith commenters.
- Poorly managed company responses to any of the above, that merely add fuel to the fire of reputational damage.
- Coverage from mainstream or sector specific media that paints the company in a bad light.
How do I protect myself from online reputation damage?
Business owners have various options when it comes to protecting their online reputation. The first is to work with an online reputation management expert such as Igniyte, to clean up any reputation problems and strategise for ongoing management. The second is to take the time to understand how business reputation management works and to take steps to avoid making the most common types of mistakes.
There are easily identifiable mistakes that small and medium sized (SMEs) businesses can watch out for. By doing this, they can negate the possibility of heading for a reputational crisis.
What are the main 4 types of mistakes that can affect your online reputation?
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Failing to monitor your online presence
This mistake underpins all the rest. By failing to monitor the online chat about your business, you can be setting yourself up for reputational damage. Many small businesses fail to prioritise their online reputation management, assuming it’s not important.
However, negative commentary can spring up anywhere at any time. This is why constant monitoring and appropriate analysis is absolutely vital to ensuring a positive online reputation. At the very least, every company should set up a Google Alert to see what’s being said.
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A lack of understanding and awareness results
Failing to understand the potential damage that can be caused by negative online coverage, businesses are falling at the first hurdle. This is a very common problem, and one that is easily surmountable.
Too often, business owners mistakenly believe that reputational problems will never happen to them. They have full confidence in their products or services and assume that their reputation – both on and offline – is automatically safe.
This means that, when negative online reviews hit or there is some kind of negative PR, the company is blindsided. Remember that poor reviews can happen to every business or brand at any time. They may not be fair, they may not even be accurate but the point is that they will damage your company reputation.
Bad PR can come from legitimately aggrieved customers, from totally unreasonable customers, from people who lie online for clout, from competitors and even from your own employees. Never assume it can’t happen to your brand or business, and ensure that you’re prepared.
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Responding emotionally to negative online comments
A very common error, particularly by small business owners and managers, is responding too zealously to online commentary. We have conducted many forms of analysis that conclusively prove the importance of online reviews in shaping consumer opinion and the overall reputation of the brand or business in question.
While responding to negative reviews is obviously important, the way in which the response is formed is even more so. Responding emotionally or without strategic input is always a mistake – and an easily avoidable one.
Never respond when angry or too quickly. Analyse the situation, take in the negative comment or complaint and work out whether it would be more useful to not respond at all. It’s always tempting to respond quickly to a negative review, especially if it’s not fair or it’s inaccurate, but consider whether this will actually draw more attention to it.
Drawing more eyes to the negative comment through your own response will only make things worse. Sometimes, it’s better to leave it as it is and concentrate on creating positive content. On other occasions, a response is warranted and can help to build trust in your brand. Either way, take the time to analyse the situation and avoid making a costly error.
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Non-strategic social media
In 2023, pretty much all business owners understand that social media can cause problems for their reputation. And they want to take some kind of proactive approach to ensuring that any damage is limited.
At Igniyte, we see this a lot – brands that do know that they should be managing social media and comms channels but don’t have the strategic knowledge to do so. Proactive action online without a coherent strategy can actually do more damage than doing nothing at all.
This is particularly true when it comes to responding to online reviews and to comments on social media channels. It’s also true when creating an online persona for the brand via Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram ,SnapChat, YouTube or any other channel. While posting regular updates from the business is a good way to help build a positive online image, doing so without a strategy is not.
Any social media strategy must be on-message and conducted with the company’s vision and values in mind. Employees should be fully conversant with the importance of the company’s reputation and how to defend it where necessary.
These are just four of the most common mistakes made by businesses in terms of reputation. For more information and to work with our specialist team, click here.
