Three ways to protect your brand’s digital reputation

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Your brand’s digital reputation can strongly influence customers and how they perceive and engage with your business. Creating an online presence is important – but it is just as essential to maintain and preserve it. Learn why the digital reputation of your business matters and some ways you can protect it.

The impact of digital

According to Deloitte’s 2015 Navigating the new digital divide – digital influence in Australian retail report, digital influences 40 per cent of in-store visits in Australia, with 65 per cent of customers using a digital device before shopping and 31 per cent while shopping. These figures reflect the impact that digital can have on both your business’s reputation and bottom line.

Deloitte Digital partner, Katherine Milesi, said of the findings: “Digital is becoming an integral part of every element of the in-store shopping experience. Australian retailers need to understand how to harness its influence to increase conversion rates and order sizes. When consumers use digital devices to research, find and compare products – before, during and after shopping in-store – it boosts both average conversion rates by 25 per cent and order sizes by 21 per cent.”

Here are some ways to protect the online reputation of your business:

1. Maintain your website and social media platforms

The first port of call for many customers looking to learn more about your business is likely to be your website and social media platforms. Ensure customers who come straight to the source (you!) are met with all the information they need online, such as your business address, contact details, trading hours, your key products and services and staff profiles.

Regularly monitor and maintain your business’ social media pages. Social media is an ideal medium to share news, updates and images, and allows you to converse directly with your followers and field any queries they may have.

Having a clear, easy to find, and up-to-date website and social media profiles, means potential and current customers feel informed and confident that your online information is firsthand, correct and timely.

2. Create a social media policy

If your business uses social media, such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, developing and implementing a social media policy is integral to protecting your online reputation.

A social media policy should, for example, include:

  • Guidelines around the type of language, images and content acceptable to share on your business social media pages.
  • Who in the business can manage or moderate its social media.
  • How to respond to various feedback or comments.
  • The timeframes in which queries should be addressed.
  • An escalation process (for instance, referring it on to you to manage) for negative or damaging comments.

A social media policy will help ensure your team have clear guidelines and processes to follow when moderating your business’ social media, as well as help create a unified approach to customer service, both in-store and online.

3. Monitor and respond to online reviews

From consumer sites like TripAdvisor and UrbanSpoon to your own Google Business and Facebook pages – online consumer reviews are an important part of your online reputation.

As a general rule, aim to acknowledge any reviews or feedback you receive online. Thank customers for positive endorsements, and, in the case of a negative review, respond sincerely and professionally noting that you are open to discuss or address any issues the customer may have had. Aim to take the discussion out of the public domain and communicate politely on a one-on-one level, whether over the phone, email or in person.

With digital having an ever-growing influence on how consumers shop, it’s important to maintain and protect your business’ online reputation by treating all exchanges, online and offline, with equal merit and care.

If you’re looking to grow your small business, build a new website or engage professionals to implement a social media strategy for your business, speak to Prospa about how a business loan could help.

Brought to you by Anna Fitzgerald, Prospa