Why an awesome company reputation really matters!
Running a business? What’s your marketing strategy? Develop your message, identify target audience, determine the most effective means of communicating the message, then deploy across select channels, and wait for the customers to break down your door?
Many businesses approach marketing incorrectly and skip the one factor that is more important than all others. Building an awesome company reputation.
Don’t Forget This Magic Device
Understand Your Customer Expectations
Your consumers want to know what they can expect BEFORE they walk in the door, or pick up the phone to engage with you. Is your product reliable? Is your facility clean? Are the employees kind and helpful? They want assurances that you will have what they need, and the expertise to provide solutions to their problems. They do their homework on you, and it usually takes all of about 10 seconds. That’s how long it takes for them to get a snapshot on what kind of business you run by quickly looking at your online reviews.
It’s Foolish To Market A Poor Reputation
When you develop that marketing plan, make sure you insert this one additional item: “build reputation”, preferably somewhere near the beginning. Engage your entire team and make it a priority. Every customer interaction is an opportunity to improve your status amongst your competitors. Reputation building IS marketing. In fact, it is the most important component of your marketing plan. All the money and marketing effort in the world can’t help you succeed if you’re not considered trustworthy.
Have you ever done a search for something, then see a paid ad near the top for a company with poor reviews? Sure, we all have. And I’ll bet that no matter what that ad copy said, or the offer they made, you probably didn’t take the bait.
Weigh Your Reputation
You can’t spend your way out of a bad reputation. Cultivate it carefully from day one and protect it at all costs. Invest in reputation building tools that help your staff invite happy customers to review you easily. Respond to every review in a timely manner. Someone took the time to help your business, the least you can do is say “thanks!” And when you acquire good reviews, make sure you share them!
Find a tool that helps you promote these recommendations and testimonials on your website and social channels. Be proud of these moments!
Why Does This All Matter?
More important than any paid ad you can purchase. Focus on high quality reviews, high volume and a steady flow. This establishes expectations for your customers, and eliminates fear of the unknown, which is hugely prohibitive to new customers acquisition. Strong reviews give people confidence that you can deliver on your promises, and that is far more powerful than some clever ad that makes unsubstantiated claims.
An Awesome Company Reputation Easy Peasy
It doesn’t need to be hard. There are tools and technologies available to you to make this process simple and effective. Reputation is marketing, and the first line item in the marketing budget should be a reputation management platform to assist in this effort. It’ll streamline the process, eliminate common pitfalls, and make it easy to reply with thoughtful, relevant content that has positive impact on your SEO.
Think Before You Spend On Marketing
Before you make big commitments to media spend and digital impressions, make an impression with an awesome company reputation to those people carrying around an instrument that can reveal everything about how you do business in a few milliseconds, otherwise known as their phone.
