It's one thing to hear people say that you need quality reputation management, it's another thing to see how reputation management can serious affect one's business or even personal life. Here are some examples:
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Blendtec, the marketing arm of a blender company, is famous for its countless "will it blend" videos that they post on Youtube. Those Youtube videos are shared by millions of people across the Internet, which of course helps to sell blenders.
Adobe, the company that makes graphic design programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop, maintains a list of interesting company related Websites and conversations on the social bookmaring site "Delicious."Best Western, the global hotel chain, sponsors a blog "On the Go with Amy" where the author travels the country writing about her experiences. This gives the reader a one-on-one interaction with a person, rather than with a large corporation.
Cadence, a high technology company which describes itself as the world's leading electronic design automation corporation, launched its Website that now prominently promotes the company's community.Cisco, one of the world's leading hardware and software makers, hosts 12 blogs addressing a variety of audiences for their global business.
In fact, there are countless examples of companies such as Dell, Ford, HSBC bank, GM, H&R Block and other Fortune 500 companies using blogs and other social networking tools (Twitter, Youtube, Stumbleupon, Digg) to enhance their reputation on the Internet. Reputation management is always better when you're offense than when you're on the defensive. For example, Microsoft is constantly running into headaches because if its software (namely Windows) and has to respond to numerous negative reviews. Reputation management in that instance is difficult because it's easier to create positive messaging than it is to try and erase negative comments.
ToolsIf you're trying to repair or simply enhance your online reputation, here are some reputation management tools you can use.
Findmeon.com – This links all your networks together and verifies your identity so people know it's your profile.
Wordpress.com – Sign up for a free account and use as OpenID, this is a great blog tool numerous people are using.
Naymz.com – If you sign-up, you can invite your customers to write reviews about you, your work and your company.
Monitor This – This tool allows you to monitor and track keywords over multiple search engines so you can see what people are tracking and searching.Monitor YourselfThere are also various monitoring tools for you to see what's in the news about you, including: Google News Alerts, Yahoo News RSS Feed, BackTweets, Google Blog Search and more that are all free. With so many reputation management tools at your fingers, there's no reason you shouldn't know exactly what's being said about you on the Web. They're free, easy to use and provide excellent reputation management with minimal investment.
Search out reputation management tools which work for you, or hire a company that can provide excellent reputation management services. Improving your image is key, especially in a day and age where we know the ring size of celebrities.
The Role of Reputation in the Customer Journey
In the technology driven and information saturated world, conducting a competitive business activity requires managerial expertise, online brand reputation, and sales finesse.
The diversity of products and services, and the profusion of corporate and media culture has created a large number of informed consumers. Irrespective of the nature of business organization, Customers want outstanding experiences and personalized services that suit their aesthetics, requirements, preferences, and budgetary choices.
The popular trends also impact the sales patterns due to the influx of mobile technologies and internet services.
Customer Journey
The customer's journey from a casual onlooker or browser to a regular purchaser is a very interesting and profoundly engaging activity. The various business organizations employ different methods to develop a clear perspective of the customer's journey.
The following three important milestones in the journey have a long lasting impact on sales of products and services in today's modern and technologically advanced world.
"A brand is what a business does, reputation is what people remember"
Brand Awareness
A name, label, logo, image or an icon has a very strong impression on the minds of the discerning customers. The consumer of services or products requires a "go to" word or "flash by" picture to quickly identify the popular brands. Like the facade of a building, the brand name or logo can create a good first impression that can help improve the sales figures.
The quality of the product has to be high and the subsequent maintenance services have to be top notch. For creating a long lasting or enduring relationship between the buyer and the seller, the brand awareness has to be complemented by online reputation, valid touch points and brand essence.
The online reputation management companies preserve the brand reputation through sustained advertising and awareness campaigns using conventional media or online resources. The social media, websites, blogs, and newsletter subscriptions are carefully strategize and implemented with the support of professional digital marketing experts and reliable software tools or solutions.
The orm customer's memory is periodically jogged through promotional and sales pitches for enhancing the brand awareness.
The reputation of the brand is also enhanced by highlighting the positive qualities, impressive facts and figures through impactful online campaigns and rewarding schemes.
Committed Vs. Considered Customers
Managers who specialize in building online brand reputation have a keen eye for the following customer related factors :-
Personality Types
Preferences
Digital Proficiency
Connectivity
Satisfaction Levels
The brand reputation is built, enhanced, and maintained with an eye on transforming the customer from a committed buyer to a considered buyer.
Committed buyers stick to familiar products, while considered buyers explore, engage, and empower themselves by purchasing different branded products and services.
The brand with high reputation and customer satisfaction, naturally, attracts the considered buyer who prefer variety.
Informed Decisions vs. Random Choices
The well connected, networked, digitized, and empowered customer is also a knowledgeable buyer. He or she prefers multiple visits or interactive sessions to make an informed decision, instead of opting for a knee jerk or random purchase.
The brand reputation, popularity, fame and quality play a very important role in this mobile age of active consumerism.
Best Practices
ORM services in India are geared towards a connected customer who prefers a considered and consulted journey while purchasing products and services of high brand repute.
He or she demands high levels of engagement and aspires for the best and empowering brands.
Related: Hire the Best ORM Service Provider
The business organizations cater to the customer's demands through the following :-
Increased reliance on software and mobile technologies.
Brand promotion across diverse customer behavior patterns.
Optimized engagements and improvised collaborations.
Contemporary data collection, validation, triangulation, and analysis.
Up gradation of business practices to enhance brand touch points.
Ensuring customer loyalty through innovative online methods of communication.
The online reputation management services endorse the customers' preferences and provide the most effective and efficient solutions to business organizations for retention and enhancement of their valuable online brand reputation and reliability.
Originally published by Social Throb as The Role of Reputation in Customer Journey