Actively Managing Your Reputation in Today’s Online World

Enterprise CenterSalem State University

January 31, 2017Abbreviated Version

How long have you been building…

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Your

Rep

utat

ion

Nasty, scathing post about you/your business

Goals for this workshop:

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• Focus

• Help you proactively build your online reputation

• Create/refine your plan

Reputation & Online Reputation

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Are they the same?

What comes to mind when you think about your online reputation?

The Unfortunate Reality of Today

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The Good Ol’ Days Today

Reach of thousands if not moreAverage person told 10 people

Potential Places for an Online Reputation

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• Google• Yelp• LinkedIn• Facebook• BBB• Angie’s List• Industry specific:– Trip Advisor, DealerRater, Houzz …

Step 1: Determine what matters

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• Think about you, your business & industry– How do your customers/clients make

buying decisions?

• Prioritize• Know where you are starting from– Search your name; search your

company

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• Build your reputation – Actively– Consistently

• What can you control to build your online reputation?– Example: LinkedIn – proactively request people

post reviews about you and your services– Google - create repeatable process for

customers to easily rate you– When do you have an opportunity to capture a

happy customer?

Proactive vs. Reactive

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• Prioritize• Develop strategy by ‘channel’ • Consider strength for search

results (e.g., Yelp)• Plan all steps out – test and execute• Google – what if no gmail account?

Proactive Management

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Map the customer experience: capture “happy”

• Thank you letter/email• Postcard with instructions• Be creative; have fun!• Facebook – do you love to Yelp? See what our customers have to say about us.• Don’t leave your brand up to chance!

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Reactive

• Actively manage your online reputation– Timely response is critical– What is considered timely?– May depend on the ‘channel’

– Damage can be done quickly– Not all posts are legitimate posts– Your competition may not be playing nice

• Assign ownership; have clear accountability

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Actively Managing – the implications• Where does this fit in your organization?

• Intern?• Admin?

• This is your reputation – your brand!• NOT a project; not haphazard.• Part of a trusted partner/employee’s job description• Strategic; evolving; rules & algorithms to know and

remain current

• Define and document escalation process & procedures

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Building/Refining Your Plan

1. Know your starting point2. Prioritize – define the most important

channels for you and your business.3. Proactively build a strong reputation

- Testimonials, Likes, Followers- Reviews

4. Reactive – actively monitor and manage