Taking Control Of Your Online Reputation

When it comes to managing your digital marketing in the UAE, while you do may be doing an effective marketing job of projecting a good image of your company and brand, that’s not the only thing that impacts it. Outside controversies in your industry or negative publicity may create a problem for your online reputation, and the last thing you want to do is have your marketing efforts negated by bad press. Here are some things you can do to try and effectively manage your online reputation.

Negative Reviews

One good area to start with is targeting bad reviews. Note that targeting here doesn’t have a negative connotation, just being aware of them so you can react accordingly. Most consumers expect that they are going to see some negative reviews on any business, but there is a way you can spin the negative into a positive by trying to address the customer’s issue in a public way. Even if you don’t necessarily get that customer back, everyone who sees that bad review will also see that your business did it’s best to try and correct the issue. One of the most important places online to watch out for what people think about you is your business listing on Google maps and Facebook, where users can leave ratings and write reviews about your business.

Develop Your Online Presence

Another good thing to do is just develop your online presence. This can take many different forms, but ideally, you want to have some sort of content related to your business on any relevant properties, at least, things like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. You need these in order to start developing your audience on these different platforms to raise both your influence and engagement. This can be difficult to do when you run a small business, but there are many different tools that allow you to schedule and plan your content well in advance. Just make sure that you set aside some time for interacting with customers if they offer questions on social media.

Be Transparent

Additionally you need to get in the habit of doing is being more transparent as a business. People these days are more concerned about things that may not have made a splash a few decades ago, like where a restaurant is sourcing its food from. A lot of customers may ask you about questions like your business certifications, your history, and other niche-specific details before doing business with you. Ideally, to make sure your reputation isn’t tarnished, put the necessary information front-and-center on your website and business materials. All customers these days are researchers in their own right, so you might as well make the job easier for them.

Get on with Influencers

As a final note, one thing that is growing in popularity across the UAE and Middle East is effective influencer marketing. Partially this is due to the growing use of social media platforms and smartphones across the country, which is at a higher rate than many other countries. An influencer can help your brand’s reputation by attaching theirs to it, but this is a double-edged sword. Be sure to do your due diligence on choosing which influencers to work with, and writing something into your contract that allows you to sever ties if they do something that could reflect badly on your brand.

 

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