Online Reputation Management: 1 Major Mistake That Stops Franchise Development

Today’s post spotlights one major franchise development flaw that owners make with their online reputation management. Read on to learn whether your franchise is making this critical error, and find out how to fix it!

A Brief History of Online Reputation Management  

Before the internet, companies were much less accountable for subpar products and services. Dissatisfied customers didn’t have a lot of options; they could complain to their friends and family, but the rest of the world wouldn’t hear about it. So long as the company in question had the marketing dollars to attract new buyers, they could survive, and even thrive!

Today, these companies have no place to hide. Consumers can share their good or bad experiences on countless different review sites, and both Google and Facebook give users the default option to rate businesses with a single click.

Marketers have published a great deal of research underscoring the impact review sites have on franchise development, which has directed considerable attention towards online reputation management services. An estimated 70-90% of prospects look for online reviews before committing to a purchase. Moreover, survey respondents have indicated time and time again that they trust these objective review sites as much as the word-of-mouth recommendations they hear from their peer groups. It’s not hard to see why, given that online reviews provide a broad and randomized population sample.

Unfortunately, online review sites are largely unregulated, lacking any controls or accountability to keep users honest. Quite often, rival business owners will take advantage of this “free market” climate and propagate negative press for your company.

Whether they’re true or not, damaging reviews and negative online chatter can degrade your brand name and goodwill to a point where your bottom-line is seriously affected. Prospects who search your brand name and see negative entries will likely scroll down to the next search result.

1 Major Mistake with Online Reputation Management 

Given the importance of your franchise’s brand name and goodwill, it only makes sense to invest in online reputation management services as part of your online marketing package. Unfortunately, many of these services revolved around combatting negative reviews as they arose through flagging, reporting, and even posting messages pretending to be satisfied customers.

While this approach does have value, especially when a franchise website has been targeted by a competitor’s smear campaign, it is both too reactive and limited in scope. Your franchise simply cannot grow at its highest potential if you’re spending your time on the defensive – your reputation management must be active, not passive.

At ClickTecs, we use an active form of online reputation management to optimize your franchise development and protect your valuable brand name. Rather than responding to degrading reviews after the fact, our firm:

• Monitors the online conversation about your brand, organizational culture, and staff
• Critically assesses these online opinions
• Interacts with consumers through social and support channels to mitigate damages, repair customer service errors, and cultivate positive relationships
• Maintains a strong positive online presence for your brand at all times

Moreover, our search engine strategies help us:

• Collate negative and positive mentions
• Adjust content creation in a way that addresses voiced concerns
• Increase your social media exposure
• Optimize your Local Listing
• Create and review your business citations

If you’d like to learn more about our “active” approach to online reputation management, visit https://clicktecs.com today!