The reputation of your business is, for all intents and purposes, the single greatest asset you have in the business world. Taking the time to look after your business reputation and cultivate it carefully will make it easier to improve when the tough times hit. The following pointers come from the managing director at Neo PR and hold valuable keys to protecting and enhancing your business reputation.
According to VelSEOity business reputation management needs to be carefully thought out and integrated into your marketing strategy. Without this vital component to act as a safety net, all the hard work you have done to attract your audience and bring them to your options will be lost in a fell swoop. But, get it right and you too can rise to the upper echelons of the market among the businesses that have made a positive connection with their audience.
6 Valuable Keys to Unlocking the Full Potential of your Business Reputation
1. Become a thought leader
Why some are brands obviously experts in what they do and others not so much? Of course some of this can be accredited to brand awareness, perceived success, positive track record and satisfied customers. But, there is another way to generate this valuable authority and it involves becoming a thought leader. Positioning yourself as a thought leader in your niche will begin by showing that you are an active “thinker” within your market. This can be done by getting active in participation in forums, debates and other events in your niche - you can even use podcasting.
2. Collect those Positive Comments
This sounds like we are rehashing notes from marketing 101, but it is amazing how often this vital point will be forgotten in the marketing process. Getting your customers and even other brands to leave good comments about your operations is an excellent way to make yourself a respected member of your market. People generally like to do business with those companies with a good reputation.
The timing will be everything when soliciting these positive comments. For example, a client who has just said yes to some offer is already primed and cued to say something positive about you. IT will be important to act fast. Remember that once the implementation stage begins, uncertainty will set in the mind of the consumer and this can be a time of uncertainty and your customers positive comment might not be as top-quality. But, just to be sure you can give the opportunity to leave a comment in the beginning, middle and end of the arrangement.
3. Admit your shortcomings quickly and anticipate trouble early
If you have messed up terribly, don’t hesitate to admit your failure, make an apology and even make amends if it is possible. Of course, make absolutely sure you have failed. Otherwise, take the time to reassess your position calmly and firmly and counter the attack as best you can.
But, anticipation will be half the battle won. Be sure to keep your PR management team in the loop and let them know what to expect. They will need to know exactly what to expect if they are to effectively produce water tight statements that don’t cause any additional trouble. A journalist will understand a response of “no comment” to mean “write whatever you want” and they will assume that you are hiding something.
4. Send a Seamless Message
If you were to ask different people all within the same business what the key business messages are, you will get a wide range of different answers and while many will point in the same direction other will be off in a wild tangent. Nevertheless, most of these answers will be coming from successful businesses with experts closely connected to their audience.
So, consider how this applies to the partners you have made in your industry, are they in line with your essential message? Or, perhaps there are elements of their marketing plan that could be beneficial for you to apply in your plans. No matter how it is produced, get your “elevator pitch” down to its most essential points and then make sure everyone you work with is well-versed in the same story.
5. Don’t be a #fail
Social media is no longer optional component to your marketing component, it could be essential or vitally-essential depending on the market you are in. Social media campaigns are especially important for managing online reputations. Social media campaigns have the potential to accelerate very rapidly, this can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the velocity in relation to your goals. To be hit with the #Fail is bad thing, but easily avoided by establishing an intelligent and intuitive plan to deal with your audience in dialogues and avoid monologue.
Social media is a tough hunting ground and there is no control or editing applied to the conversations that will explode and the directions they will take. But going slow and taking it one step at a time you will find this is the perfect place to manage your reputation in an effective and timely manner. Get on top of the action and take control of the situation by showing you can respond to criticism well, admit mistakes when wrong and hold your ground tactfully and with authority when you are right.
6. Don’t be a one-hit wonder
As with all things that smack of marketing, strategy and direction are essential ingredients to any positive outcomes. To maximize your capacity for success here, begin by planning an intelligent marking strategy that runs seamlessly from top to bottom providing clarity and direction all the way. Preparation is always important so having that vital script is always a good place to start.
It is as hard to maintain a good reputation as it is to build it up in the first place. This can seem like a very unnerving notion if you feel your reputation is on the line at this moment, but think of it another way. If you consider that your reputation management is a continuous work in progress then you will soon gain ground and reach higher goals and greater rewards.