What’s your Online Reputation?
So, you spend time, money and effort ensuring the reputation of your company is exactly what you want it to be. But, have you considered your online reputation?
Online Reputation Management is becoming a buzz phrase in the online world as companies realise the damage that can be done to their reputation at the click of a mouse.
Imagine, you have completed a sales presentation to a prospective client – you have told them just how darn good you are and why you are the company for the job.
Now imagine that same customer leaves your meeting with a warm and fuzzy feeling but decide they should carry out a bit of Internet Research to find out as much about you as they can. Lo and behold, they turn up some less than complimentary comments about your product or service on a few forums and blogs.
Ah, the beauty of the freedom of speech. That is all well and good when people are saying complimentary things, but imagine the damage when they are not. A disgruntled employee, a less than satisfied customer or maybe a serial complainer, could all be at the root of the problem.
It is a known fact that PR is more effective as a selling tool than Advertising, why? The reason is PR is deemed to be impartial. Large corporations have even taken to adopting this practice with their TV advertising – for example the very large Supermarket who instead of telling you what good value for money their goods are, have decided to employ the services of a much loved British Comedienne to do what? Sell? No, bake bread on TV. There is no “strap line”, no “sales pitch”, they have not taken this decision without doing some research into human buying behaviour!
With this in mind, how powerful do you think negative information about your goods or service will be when deemed to be ‘impartial’?
But don’t for one moment think that this situation is limited to big businesses. You only have to look at the number of ‘review’ websites there are now to see that it can affect all size of businesses.
Remember the old adage “a happy customer will tell 2 people, an unhappy one will tell 10 times that number!” well, add the Internet into the equation at 10 times could easily become 1000 times on the information super highway!
Those companies with deep pockets are taking their online reputation management very seriously indeed. Nicky Nelson of Crystal Clear Website Marketing and Crystal Clear Virtual Assistants says; “We have noticed an increase in the number of enquiries for both Online Reputation Management, and Internet Research. Often the research we are asked to carry out is simply to determine what the online community is saying about the client who has employed our services. The outcome of which determines whether or not they require our Online Reputation Management Services!”
So, do you know what people are saying about your company, your products or your services? If not, then maybe you should!
For more information please visit www.ccseo.co.uk
Nicky Nelson is a website marketing consultant and runs her own website Marketing Consultancy practice Crystal Clear Website Marketing.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - What’s your Online Reputation?