Word-of-mouth has gone digital – it’s all about online brand reputation now. These days, before stepping into a cafe, booking a hotel, or trying a new restaurant, people check online reviews. As many as 86% of customers agree reading reviews makes them feel more confident in their booking decisions. A strong collection of positive reviews can bring in a flood of customers, while some bad ones, left unanswered, can push people away.
That’s why managing your brand reputation online is essential. You need a strategy for review monitoring, customer engagement, and reputation protection. Otherwise, you’re leaving your business in the hands of chance, and it may become hard to salvage.
Why reviews matter for online brand reputation
It’s not just your potential customers paying attention to reviews. Search engines value aggregated reviews when determining search rankings. Feedback contributes to more than 15% of how Google ranks a local business, making it crucial for SEO. Essentially, that means the more reviews you have (and the better they are), the higher up you show on local search results.
Trust, however, is another significant factor you should be considering. As important as star ratings are for ranking higher and more people finding you, customers read feedback. A steady flow of fresh and authentic reviews makes your business look credible and active. Without them, your online presence can feel outdated or unreliable.
You know reviews matter, but the tricky part is getting customers to leave them. Many happy customers walk away without thinking twice about writing one. Others need a little nudge, but if you push too hard, it can feel forced or even desperate. So, how can you get more reviews and boost your local engagement?
More reviews = more customers
A business with a multitude of recent, high-quality reviews will always attract more attention than one with just a handful. That’s because people naturally trust experiences shared by others. This phenomenon is known as social proof – a psychological concept that explains how people are influenced by the actions and opinions of others. When potential customers see others recommending your business, they assume you’re more credible, reliable, and worth trying, so they’re more likely to choose you.
But simply waiting for reviews to roll in isn’t enough. You need to make it easy and convenient for people to leave feedback. Even satisfied customers may not think to leave a review unless prompted, which is why encouraging feedback is essential.
Your local business’s online reputation management plays a huge role in your visibility. Google My Business listings, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and other review sites help people discover you. If your competitors have more review aggregation, they’ll appear higher in search results, attracting more potential customers before they even see your business.
How to get more reviews (without being pushy)
Ask at the right time
When you actively manage online reputation, you take control of your business’s image. But in order for that to work, you need to create effortless ways for customers to leave reviews.
That starts with knowing when to ask for reviews and evaluating the right time. If a customer compliments your service, that’s your cue. Train your team to say something simple like: “We’d love it if you could share that in a review!”, but not pushing it too hard. Another option is a post-visit follow-up, reminding customers to leave a review while their experience is still fresh.
Make it easy
The harder it is to leave a review, the fewer you’ll get. Simplify the process with QR codes strategically placed on receipts, menus, and checkout areas. Otherwise, use direct links in emails, SMS, and social media blogs, or have a pop-up feedback request when they connect to the Wi-Fi, or on your website. Friction kills momentum. A smooth review management process increases your chances of getting feedback.
Use happy customers
People love sharing good experiences, given they’re reminded to do so. Train your staff to recognize satisfied customers and ask for feedback naturally. A warm, personal request works far better than an automated message. You can also give gentle nudges on social media. A simple post saying “Loved your experience? Leave us a review!” can encourage action.
Use automation & tools
You don’t have to do all this manually when there’s so many tools on the market that help automate the process. GMB and Yelp allow you to set up automatic prompts to encourage visitors to leave feedback, and other email marketing automation solutions can send well-times review requests.
But why stop at collecting reviews when you can go further and analyze all the feedback you’re receiving? When customer reviews can make or break the number of guests your local business has, you’re better off knowing what people are saying and taking the right actions based on it.
Customer review monitoring helps you understand customer sentiment and trending topics, identify trends, see how your competitors are doing and make data-driven improvements. And that’s exactly what FeedCheck can help you with – we gather all your feedback into our review monitoring and reputation management platform to give you data and insights of what people are feeling about your brand. Whether this information goes to your COO, Location Manager, or Customer Service Manager, FeedCheck optimizes review aggregation and online brand reputation monitoring. Want to find out more? Contact us for a demo and we’ll show you how FeedCheck can simplify your feedback analysis.
Engage in community
Your online brand reputation doesn’t just come from direct customer interactions. It’s also influenced by how visible and involved your business is. Partnering with local influencers and bloggers and getting a recommendation from trusted figures could mean more traffic, and then more aggregated feedback.
Similarly, encouraging user-generated content would bring a big plus to your business as customers who post about their experiences give you free social proof. People who talk about your business and create content around it generate authentic, word-of-mouth marketing that money can’t buy.
Nowadays, people trust content created by other consumers far more than branded advertisements, because it feels more genuine. So why not take advantage of that and encourage user-generated posts? Besides social proof, they’ll increase your engagement, brand loyalty, and your search, so, really, it’s a win-win.
Reputation nightmares to avoid
Even with the best efforts, some businesses damage their reputation without realizing it. At this point, brand reputation management is about more than just collecting reviews and being aware – it’s about managing feedback the right way. A few common mistakes can turn customers away and hurt your search rankings.
But if you avoid these pitfalls, you’ll be on your way to building a strong and trustworthy brand presence.
- Ignoring negative reviews. Silence sends a message – the wrong one, that is. When businesses ignore bad reviews, they give their audience the impression that they don’t care. A single unanswered complaint can leave a lasting bad impression, leading people to believe the criticism may be accurate. But negative feedback can bring a whole new perspective to your business, so take it in and learn from your mistakes.
- Using fake reviews. Buying reviews or faking them can get you penalized by Google and other review platforms, and it can ruin trust with real customers at the same time. Genuine reviews are far more valuable, so focus on encouraging honest feedback from real customers.
- Inconsistent or robotic responses. People can tell when a reply is copy-pasted. Generic and robotic responses make a business seem impersonal and uninterested. Even worse, replying with the same message can make it seem like you’re just going through the motions, instead of actually acknowledging the feedback.
- Not monitoring reviews regularly. A bad review left unanswered for weeks can give the impression that customer opinions don’t matter to you. But simply responding isn’t enough either – you need to monitor reviews to spot recurring issues and opportunities for improvement. Stay on top of your customer review monitoring to catch issues early.
Conclusion
Your online reputation is about more than just collecting reviews – it’s about actively managing, analyzing, and engaging with them. A strong review strategy helps you build trust, improve visibility, and attract more customers. But it requires consistency, authenticity, and the right tools.
A well-managed review strategy can elevate your brand reputation online, drive customer loyalty, and boost your business’s growth. And that’s where FeedCheck comes in. Our online brand reputation platform allows you to track, analyze, and respond to all your customer reviews with ease. We also help you uncover insights about trends, customer sentiment, competitors, and areas for improvement, in order for you to make data-driven decisions to succeed.
Whether you’re a local business or a global brand, FeedCheck empowers you to stay ahead of feedback and work on your online brand reputation. Ready to take control of your reviews? Book a demo today and see how FeedCheck can simplify your feedback management.