In today’s digital landscape, most consumers rely upon online reviews, testimonials, and other reputation-based insights to vet a business’s reputation. From restaurants and delivery services to plumbing, electrical, and construction-based businesses, reputation management is imperative.
Online reviews and testimonials can make or break a business and its reputation, thus proving the importance of reputation management if only to survive in such a competitive, consumer-dominated economy.
With that said, in what follows, we’ll be detailing the importance of a business’s reputation and why reputation management must be prioritized. Further, we’ll explore the use case for reputation management software and strategies while focusing our explanation on our freemium reputation management marketing model.
So, if you’re a home services business looking to take your online reputation to the next level, and eager to find a software or application that provides both efficiency and effectiveness regarding reputation management, this article is for you.
Let’s get right into it, shall we?!
Reputation Management
Originating as a public relations term, reputation management is the act of influencing and improving upon a business or brand’s reputation, taking the necessary action steps required to mitigate negative responses, respond to positive ones, and monitor trends to predict future reputation.
In the context of a business’s online reputation, it’s largely garnered via customer reviews and testimonials, typically on listing platforms such as Facebook and Google My Business, however, also available to be posted on Yelp!, Amazon, YellowPages, Better Business Bureau (BBB), and Angie’s List.
Notably, Facebook and Google My Business are the two primary review listings platforms, accounting for nearly 50% of total monthly traffic in the US alone with respect to review and testimonial postings.
As business looking to improve its reputation, there are several options. Whether its social media marketing and public relations efforts or customer service tactics, reputation can be improved upon if approached the right way.
One way to ensure that your reputation is being managed properly is through the use of a streamlined, all-in-one, reputation management software or application. More on that shortly…
The Importance of Reputation Management
93% of digital consumers say that positive online reviews impact their buying decisions. Similarly, 94% suggest that negative reviews have convinced them to avoid that business/brand. Further, only 2% of online consumers say that they’ve never read an online review before.
Still not convinced?
With over 33 million reviews on Yelp alone (you can only imagine what the likes of Google & Facebook have), and with over 70% of consumers suggesting that they trust online reviews just as much as personal referrals, the evidence of widespread regarding the importance of reputation and reputation management.
If these statistics don’t illustrate the importance of online reviews and reputation, we don’t know what will…
In any case, Whether it’s influencing buying behaviors, attracting new leads, boosting awareness, or increasing total sales and conversions, garnering positive reviews on the largest listing sites like Google and Facebook is essential for survival in today’s competitive online, consumer-based landscape.
Not only do positive reviews have a tremendously positive impact on the success and growth trajectory of your business but negative ones have a detrimentally negative impact.
Further, how a business manages such reviews, both positive and negative, prove essential to a business’s reputation at large.
In short, by providing undeniably impeccable customer service through the good times and the bad, prioritizing top-quality service, encouraging customer feedback and referrals, and gaining valuable insight into consumer behavior, you as a business will boost your reputation ten-fold.
While all of this can hypothetically be managed manually, having a streamlined, all-in-one destination to manage, monitor, and improve your business’s reputation will prove to be the difference maker in efficiency and business growth at large.
Introducing Reputation Management Express…
Introducing Reputation Management Express
As a digital marketing agency focused on the home services industry inclusive of plumbers, electricians, contractors, roofers, and otherwise, we provide extensive SEO services and landing page optimization to allow you as a business to increase traffic, improve engagement & reputation, and boost conversions.
Through the generation of said traffic and reputation, it’ll become apparent that a management strategy is required…
Well, thanks to our freemium marketing model that comes equipped with an entry-level application and an all-in-one dashboard, you can begin managing your online reputation with ease.
Obviously stated, this marketing model & application will only prove effective if you have a substantial presence on both Facebook and Google My Business. If you don’t yet have such a presence, it’s time to begin building. If you do, on the other hand, have such a presence, it’s time to connect them to the app and begin managing!
Curious as to how our reputation management express application functions? Continue reading to learn more!
Overview Dashboard
Upon creating an account and connecting your Google My Business and Facebook pages to the application, you’ll first be greeted by the Overview Dashboard. It’s here where you’ll be provided with a quick at-a-glance look into your business’s online reputation.
Displaying your current online star rating and providing insight into the most prominent keywords being used throughout your customer reviews, the overview page is a great place to gain a high-level insight into the success or lack thereof of your business’s online reputation.
Review Page
Having a significant impact on your business’s reputation and bottom line, the review page is likely going to become your business’s best friend, for it provides insight into your online presence via both Google and Facebook.
Further, it also allows you to interact with said reviews, all from one streamlined destination which is Reputation Management Express. In short, if you’re looking to monitor your reviews and testimonials, the review page is where you’ll want to visit.
The best part? Through machine learning and other automated integrations, our application provides automated recommended responses so that you don’t need to use any brain power to conjure a meaningful response. In short, recognizing customer feedback, both good and bad, is an excellent marketing strategy for your business.
Other sub-tabs under the Review Page include the Review Display Widget, Statistics Page, and Insights Page. If you want to show off your best reviews and post them to your website, OR if you want to gain deeper insight into customer sentiment, this is where you do it!
Further, you’ll be able to understand review behavior over time while also monitoring response efficiency to determine how well you and your team are handling its management.
Listings Page
To monitor your listings on both Google and Facebook, you’ll want to visit the Listings Page. Through our freemium marketing model, you’ll have access to both major platforms, however, by upgrading to the pro model, you’ll have access to as many listings’ platforms as desired.
By upgrading to pro, you’ll also gain access to two valuable sub-tabs inclusive of citations and statistics. It’s here where you’ll gain the ability to monitor listing accuracy and discover other listing sites where your business reviews have been mentioned.
While we won’t go into detail regarding other available Reviews Management Express Tabs, if you sign up for our Pro Model, you’ll have access to additional valuable tabs inclusive of the Competition Tab, Mentions Tab, and Social Tab.
Take Control of the Online Conversion
To begin taking control of the online conversion and placing your business’s reputation at the top of your priority list, sign up for the Reputation Management Express app OR reach out to us to discuss how our digital marketing agency can help YOUR business improve its online reputation.
While our freemium marketing model comprises several useful tools and insights, our pro model provides deeper insights and meaningful monitoring capabilities for businesses looking to take their reputation management to the next level.
To manage, monitor, and improve your online reputation in one streamlined place and turn customer reviews into powerful insights, use Reputation Management Express today!
Conclusion
Reputation management helps businesses and brands alike attract and retain customers, boost brand identity, and increase overall sales and conversions. Proving a primary means of guiding consumer behavior, reviews are the backbone of a business’s reputation, especially in today’s online ecosystem.
By managing, monitoring, and taking action steps toward improving said reviews and testimonials, businesses, whether in the home services industry or not, can remain atop of their industry, remaining beloved and relevant as a result.
To learn more about reputation management and how we here at Home Service Design can help, be sure to contact us today! Chat soon…
