Online Reputation
Management
Dr. Pete Gelesko
Adco Digital
Why are Reviews Important
 Traffic to top 10 review sites grew 158% last year (compete.com)
 92% of consumers trust online reviews over what a salesperson says
(Wall Street Journal)
 75% don’t believe companies tell the truth in advertising
 70% consult reviews before purchasing
Why are Reviews Important
 7 in 10 who read reviews share those reviews with friends
 45% of buyers say the are influenced by reviews (Harris Poll)
 34% of people turn to the internet to air their feelings (Harris Poll)
 46% feel they can be brutally honest on the internet
Covered Today
 What is Reputation Management
 Examples of what can happen if not monitored
 How to improve online reputation
 Posting Reviews
 On-going Monitoring
 Stay in contact
What is online reputation management?
ORM is …
The process of proactively using tools, processes, and systems to be
aware of and influence the conversation that is taking place about you
and your business online
In other words…actively building a 5 star reputation online and
marketing that reputation so that it is easily found.
What are the stakes?
74% of U.S. consumers choose to do
business based on online feedback
Source: Society for Communications Research
12 Surefire Ways to
Protect Your Reputation
(While Promoting Your Business)
Effective ORM should:
 Be proactive and reactive
 Ideally 90% proactive
 Combine marketing, SEO, public relations, branding, sales, and
customer service
 Cut across ALL core business functions
Five core principals of ORM
1.
Listen to what your customers are saying
2.
Contribute to the conversation
3.
Delight customers by exceeding expectations
4.
Collect feedback, referrals, & testimonials
5.
Plan how you will respond before you need to
3. Set up profiles in all of your
key directories and networks
 Google+ Local
*important*
 Yelp
 Trip Advisor
 LinkedIn
 Facebook
 Twitter
4. Start blogging!
 Add social media sharing buttons
 Post on subjects that will help your clients and prospects
 Use posts to populate a monthly newsletter
6. Promote remarkable
customer service
 Create a service culture
 Happy employees = happy customers
 Establish metrics (and rewards) that
promote a good customer experience
 Encourage all employees to collect
testimonials
 Share client praise with your team
8. Say thank you
 Edible
Arrangements
 Postagram
(cool iOS app!)
 Handwritten
notes …
$0.45 = customer
for life (OFF THE CHARTS
ROI)
COLLECT
Customer feedback, referrals & testimonials
9. Use free or paid survey tools
to collect client feedback
 Survey Gizmo
 Survey Monkey
 Other Proprietary
Software Systems
10. Set up channels for receiving
voluntary feedback
Use these places (and others) to collect
feedback:
 Reputation Software Systems
 Email signature
 Web forms
 Invoices / receipts
 Newsletters
PLAN
Processes > improvisation
11. Develop a process for responding to
negative buzz (before you need it)
 Listen
 Take it offline
 Decide whether to
engage
 Move on
 Apologize
 Affirm
 Reflect
 Act
12. Build a referral system
 Collecting referrals
should be an ACTIVE
and METHODICAL
process
 Consider creating a
referral reward system
What Can You Do
To Fight Back?
 Claim your listing
 Respond To Reviews
 Have a system to collect reviews
 Find a way to filter the reviews before they are posted online
 Promote the positive ones and take action to correct the negative
ones
 Encourage customers to submit reviews to review sites
 Continue to Monitor your reputation
 Stay in touch with customers
System For Collecting Reviews
 Use a survey that encourages a positive response
 Leading questions that put the customer in a frame of mind to leave a
good review
 What do you like BEST about ……
 What is something you would tell a friend?
 If survey reveals a problem, have a system for correcting it before the
customer shares it online
 Have a system for asking customers to share their positive experience
on major review sites
 Always state that responses may be used in promotional material
 Optional – offer a reward for completion
Reputation Is More Than Reviews
 Visibility
 Reviews
 Mentions
 Social Media
 Facebook – likes
 LinkedIn – Endorsements
 Twitter – has tag mentions
 Share of Voice
Connect With Customers
 System to stay in touch with customers
 Email communications – do you have a list?
 Send cards and notes
 Automate with SendOutCards.com
 Blog that educates
There is more than Google
Big Takeaway?
You can’t control what people say about your
company. But you CAN exercise some control over
the larger conversational context that they say it in.
Proactive ORM is all about making sure you’re adding
enough to the conversation to ensure that the ratio of
positive to negative is in your favor.
Questions????
AdcoDigital@Comcast.net