Why Reputation Management Should Be a Part of your Online Business Strategy

What is Review Management?

In today’s landscape, a brand’s online reputation is critical. The explosive growth of review sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor along with the ability for people to now leave reviews on Facebook and Google, makes it more important than ever for brands to be responsive to their customers. Not only can properly responding to reviews turn an unhappy customer into a happy one, or convert a loyal customer to a brand advocate, reviews also signal to potential customers what they can expect from your brand. More and more people are now using the social proof that reviews provide to make purchase decisions. And if that wasn’t enough reason to include review management into your marketing program, there are other benefits too! Google has stated that they significantly factor in review response rate into how they rank websites in Google Search. That means responding to reviews will help your SEO, one of the most powerful yet challenging tools a brand has for finding new customers. Carefully analyzing reviews can also give you helpful insights for your business by providing real-time feedback on what consumers love, dislike, or value about your brand experience.

Why is Review Management Important?

Guests are passionate and particular about the experience they want to have when visiting a property or business. People visit businesses for a host of reasons including gaming, food and beverage, entertainment, and more. Each of those experiences is often talked about, both positively and negatively, on review sites. Keeping customers and finding new ones is of utmost importance and managing customer reviews is vital to both. When your current guests leave comments on their experience you will benefit by responding to them. When potential guests are searching online to decide between different establishments, they will look at and take into account how other people felt about their time at your business. Many complaints can be corrected so that the guest feels satisfied, and so that future guests do not have the same negative experience. However, some complaints might not be easily fixed. Even when you might not be able to “make it right” for the person leaving a negative review, often just responding lets the person know that they are being heard and that feedback is important. 

How to get started with Review Management

The first step is to make sure that you have claimed all of your official accounts on the review sites that are relevant for your business. The most important are Facebook, Google My Business, and Yelp. If you have restaurants or a hotel, you will want to consider TripAdvisor, Expedia, and other industry-specific sites. Instructions for each can be found below:

Google My Business: How to add or claim your Business Profile on Google

Facebook: Link Your Business Locations to Business Manager

Yelp: The simple steps to claiming your Yelp Page

Next, you will want to create a game plan for how your business will respond to different types of reviews. Start by taking a look at the reviews that have already been posted and creating a list of common topics and themes that appear. Once you have that list you will better understand what types of comments you will need to respond to (and further, what improvements can be made to the property or business to avoid complaints in the future.) Next, depending on the size of your business you might want to create a list of members of your team who can provide information about certain topics that arise. For instance, identifying who within the food & beverage department can help provide information, so you can respond to any comments having to do with on-property restaurants. That way, when a review comes in that you do not have an answer for, you can quickly connect with the relevant team member to get a prompt response back to the guest.

Depending on how many review sites you will be responding to, you also have the option of utilizing software to assist you. There are several solutions that allow you to view and respond to reviews from multiple sites in a unified inbox. Our team relies on and highly recommends Sprout Social to fulfill this need. Sprout Social has powerful tools to be organized, stay focused, and respond promptly.

Tips for Responding to Reviews

When responding to reviews your best bet is the “kill ‘em with kindness” approach. Remember your response is just as important for future customers as it is for the customer who left the review. You want your responses to reflect the integrity of you and your business. Try implementing the following tips to ensure you’re responding to reviews in the best way possible. 

-Stay professional. Use a calm and empathetic tone. Refrain from placing blame or being defensive. 

-Respond timely. Responding quickly ensures the matter is resolved before escalating unnecessarily.

-Respond to both positive and negative reviews. Positive reviews help you get new business, they deserve attention too. 

-Look for patterns. If you see the same complaint repeatedly, it may be time to reevaluate your business strategy. 

-Offer solutions. If there’s a way you can discuss a specific resolution further offline, encourage the customer to do so. 

Now you have the knowledge and understanding of how important reputation management is to your business, you can start using the resources and tools to take your business to the next level online. By engaging and responding to reviews, you will maintain consumer satisfaction while increasing your new customer base. 

Amanda GuestComment