Online reputation management is often mistaken for good reputation marketing around Lubbock, Texas and other business-laden locales. However, they’re very different in their main purpose. In this article, reputation management is the focal point. A lot of companies are engaging the assistance of companies like UseWorthyMEDIA.com just for this, and for good reason. CIO.com writer James Martin notes, “Your Company’s reputation is its most important asset. If it’s tarnished, you can lose customers, sales, employees, and partners.”
Here are some helpful tips for business owners to better manage their web-based reputation:
Claim all the online properties– Companies may own their online reputation, but not exactly everything posted on the web related to the reputation itself. One good step forward for these companies is to take responsibility for every place where their reputation is either created or maintained. This can be done by learning about websites (i.e. forums) where product and service reviews are likely to be posted. The contact information on these sites must also be kept current, as well as the pictures and the content in it.
Be a thought leader– Contributing ideas worth spreading to the market can make any company a leading thinker in the field they work in, adequately empowering their reputation to a significant extent. Doing so also establishes a company as some sort of a “mover” in the market, which can be very appealing to potential clients and investors alike.
Monitor daily activity– Companies are advised to actively monitor everything being said about them online, preferably in real time; this is better than waiting until negative feedback is hitting the company’s reputation directly. It doesn’t matter if the reviews are real or fake; every single type of content being posted on the web can either inspire hope or spell doom to a carefully cultivated reputation.
In times of crisis, plan the move carefully– This essentially means that if a company knows that it really messed up, it is advised that they accept the responsibility for the slip-up and limit the damage taken by issuing positive, conciliatory statements. On the other hand, a plain misunderstanding or a clearly false assumption calls for a company to stand their ground and actively counter the threat.
Effective reputation management for Lubbock, Texas companies offered by firms like UserWorthyMEDIA.com is a pillar for business success. Crises are always imminent, and the way an enterprise deals with a hitch is often the way it is judged as a trustworthy member of society.
(Source: 10 Online Reputation Management Tips for Businesses, CIO.com, August 27, 2012)
