Insure Your Business with Online Reputation Management

Buying insurance for your car or home is a no-brainer. In the same manner, you should be considering every way you need to insure your business beyond the standard insurance plans that come along with owning a business. We aren’t referring to traditional insurance packages that save you when something happens, we’re referring to the protective measures and standards you can actively use to achieve and maintain your image in the event of potential online threats that could damage your reputation.

Managing your brand online requires a combination of marketing, public relations, legal, and search engine optimization strategies that will allow you to protect, promote, and defend your business to generate a positive online presence. Once there is a misinterpretation of your business’ online image after something negative has happened, it is nearly impossible to recover without the right online reputation management strategies in place before the incident, during, and after–like any good insurance policy. 

By staying ahead of issues that could arise with a strong reputation management game plan, you can ensure your brand will sustain a long-standing, positive reputation online.

Online Reputation Management Matters… Period.

Online reputation management is a necessary part of your brand’s sustainability, especially in today’s digital economy. Now more than ever, the online world has unlocked unlimited potential to grow your business. But with vast growth potential also comes unlimited threat opportunities that could wipe your business out for good. The purpose of online reputation management exists to actively manage, maintain and protect your online reputation on search engines, social media, your website, reviews sites, and more.

To ensure your success, taking time to comb through and audit your online reputation is non-negotiable. To ensure your success, taking the time to comb through and audit your online reputation is non-negotiable. How you look online and whether potential clients know, like, and trust you is the fuel for your business in today’s modern, internet-driven society. If you aren’t willing to put in the time into proactively building and protecting your brand, how can you expect prospects to get an accurate view of your business as trustworthy, reliable, and most importantly REAL? Here’s what you should do to create trust, become more authoritative, and appear online exactly as you would in person!

Being Proactive vs. Reactive

To successfully manage your online reputation and maintain a positive image, keeping your business proactive versus reactive is going to help you achieve just that. Insurance plans are designed to protect you from damage IF a situation should occur and offers avenues for repair when needed. Things like car accidents, flooding in your home, and going to get a cavity filled at the dentist are all covered by insurance after the “damages” have been made.

Online reputation management is designed to mitigate the need for repair when done correctly from the start, but it also acts as insurance for your brand after something damaging happens to your brand online through reputation repair, restoring trust and authority, and preventing further client and revenue loss. 

To stay in proactive online reputation management, there are several steps you can take to keep your business and brand protected from potential threats that arise. Listed below are the four A’s you can apply to your business’s communication action plan to help dissolve negative rhetoric that could be building tension and create a foundation for building better relationships as a result. We use the four A’s to defend brand images online most commonly on review sites, your website, social media, and forums.

The Four A’s of Online Reputation Management

Acknowledgment – Acknowledge who’s providing feedback on any online content surrounding your brand promptly, in the same place as the commentary is being shared, to be just that; timely!

Appreciation – Thank the individual for providing their opinion and/or feedback as well as sharing their experience. Let them know that this feedback will be taken into consideration for improving, revitalizing, enhancing, or redesigning your product, service, business process, etc. so that you can answer their needs if deemed feasible.

Apology – Take responsibility and express regret whether you feel sorry or not to ensure the individual who’s providing the feedback feels seen, heard, and hopefully at ease providing you the opportunity to diffuse the upset they’re experiencing. Though this is more reactive than proactive, it is necessary to be aware that this “A” is crucial even in ensuring your brand comes across as consoling, real, and understanding.

Action – Provide the actions you’ll take to the individual and for others to see that you are invested in improving your brand. Showing that effort is being made is key.

Here are a few more steps to consider implementing to your current action plan to proactively address, build, and shape your business’s online reputation before it’s too late…

Build your reputation – There is no greater action to take than to build a reputation with those following you and those seeking out what it is you offer them as a benefit in life. Connect and engage with others, generate positive reviews, start a blog, and get confident in your SEO and web content promoting you or your business. It all leads to the outcome of being so strong, that there’s no room for negativity to seep in.

Turn Negatives into Positives – Follow the Four A’s above to gain back the confidence of those who are negatively responding to your image. Be proactive in creating a positive setting for them to engage in… while it would be great to receive only positive feedback, negative is necessary to elevate a brand’s ability to meet customer needs and expectations.

Build Relationships – Seek out individuals or organizations that share similar values and interests you have. This will help not only your integrity but also your alliances with those crafting the message about you when you aren’t looking.

Be the Best – Get enthusiastic about how you are viewed and be prepared to swiftly take action anywhere and everywhere you find the need to showcase your image. 

Have a Long-Term Online Reputation Management Strategy – Getting a plan ready that can flow with your direction at any level of growth is important in being able to support your success and not take a turn for the worse. If you don’t feel confident in creating your master plan without a professional, seek an organization that is knowledgeable in this field to assist you.

 

Insure Your Business with the Best Team for ORM

When tackling ORM on your own or even in a business setting, there are plenty of great resources available to delve into for the right tips and advice on creating a positive image. We’ve put together The Ultimate Guide for 2022 that will help you reform the way you have done online reputation management in the past or help you learn exactly how to start adding it into your lifestyle for a better presence.

At Reputation Rhino, we help businesses build and maintain online reputations that radiate above the competition while creating long-lasting relationships with customers in the online space. Everything from helping remove bad reviews, to building a strong strategy, and gaining positive feedback from customers, Reputation Rhino is the company to help achieve your online reputation goals through our strategic approach to online reputation management.

Online reputation management encompasses a wide range of online brand management tools to insure your online reputation. It is critical to carefully curate an online image with the same intentionality as you would have in person with your best clients.

By effectively strategizing, implementing, and maintaining the best practices proven to produce optimal results through the actions referred to above, we provide our solutions-driven approach to tackling your business’s online reputation with confidence. If you are ready to insure your online image is meeting the expectations of your clients, reach out to Reputation Rhino today for our online reputation management services.