Online Reputation Management

Business owners face the same challenge when it comes to deciding where to spend time and money on day-to-day operations. Despite the size of your business, the industry you are in or what advertising you currently use, an online reputation management tool allows you to focus on what matters most — your customers.

Online Reputation Management (ORM) refers to businesses contributing to and influencing the conversation around their brand online by minimizing negative customer feedback and keeping their online presence positive. 

Investing in ORM allows you to use your customer service as a tool to build long-lasting relationships with customers and feel confident you are investing in the right tools for your business.

Benefits of Online Reputation Management

  • Online reputation management tools help you establish and maintain an overall customer star rating — a metric that is crucial to customers who are researching your business. A higher star rating in addition to recent reviews can positively impact your search engine optimization and increase your business’ webpage visibility.
  • Online reputation management allows you to easily navigate the best ways to respond to negative feedback so it does not have a large impact on your ratings and perceptions. Most programs will send you notifications in real-time and let you respond directly through the platform to further manage the customer relationship.  
  • Word-of-mouth referrals are the most effective way to convert prospective customers into paying customers. By prompting satisfied customers to leave reviews on public forums, you can feel confident that your business is promoted in the most effective and credible way possible.

To learn more about why your business should invest in an online reputation management service, check out our blog that shares helpful statistics for online consumer behavior.

Impacts on Revenue

As we mentioned, ORM programs help your business establish and maintain a higher star rating. But how does that star rating contribute to your bottom line?

According to research conducted by Womply, businesses with a 4 to 4.5-star rating earn 28% more in annual revenue. While it seems intuitive to strive for the perfect 5-star rating, research shows that 5-star businesses average less revenue than the typical business. Businesses with 5 stars typically have fewer reviews, are less established or could be using black-hat practices like buying fake reviews. When collecting customer reviews, remember quantity counts. Businesses with more than 82 total reviews earn 54% more in annual revenue. Businesses with 200 reviews or more earn nearly twice as much in revenue than the average business. It is also important to keep your reviews recent. Businesses with 25 or more ‘fresh’ reviews (within the past 30 days) earn 108% more than the average business.

Best Practices

We have a few tips and tricks up our sleeve:

  • Timing – End prompts for customers to write online reviews soon after their customer experience,  allowing their review to be detailed and credible. 
  • Frequency – Use multiple reminder messages with a drip campaign to give customers the push to leave a positive online review while their experience is top of mind.
  • Sending Method – Send both email and text review requests to see higher conversion rates. 
  • In-Person Engagement – Ask for a review or feedback in-person to become more likely to see a response once the review request is sent. 
  • Volume – Send a review request to every customer to see better results (as opposed to cherry-picking the ones believed to be likely to leave a review).

Have questions or want to learn more about our marketing services? Reach out to our team of experts who can provide you insight and recommendations for launching or refining your ORM program. Give us a ring at 757.962.7375 or shoot us an email at info@ReedandAssociatesMarketing.com.

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