Today, people are spending a lot of time online and they are paying a lot of attention – with hours being spent hanging out with their people on social media platforms like Facebook, sharing the hottest news on Twitter, watching videos on YouTube, and looking for information on search engines.
This is why it is important for businesses to be careful about how their message is perceived and also monitoring what people are saying about the brand. A small mistake can end up hurting your brand forever because news spreads very fast online.
How Crucial is ORM?
There is no need to worry when your focus is on building a brand that people will love to engage with.
There are people who are not going to like you or your brand but know this is natural and necessary.
You should not pay too much attention to those who do not like your brand, just focus more on building great relationships with those who like your brand, and building your audience.
There are many mistakes brands tend to make when it comes to maintaining and protecting their reputation, and they are going to be mentioned in this article.
There are many mistakes and are not going to be listed, but below are the four most common that are going to have a very big impact on your brand.
Horrible Website Experience
A horrifying website can have a negative impact, as funny as it may sound. It is important to give a good first impression because it is going to shape how people perceive your brand.
This is not a personal opinion, but it is proven by studies. About 5 out of 10 people said that the design of the website was the main factor when it came to deciding whether to trust the brand or not.
Having Vague, Ineffective USP
Your Unique Selling Point (USP) is what determined whether you succeed or fail. Are you able to clearly communicate to your customers what they stand to gain from choosing you? If not, how are they going to know how good your product or service is? You will end up losing out on business.
Procrastinating
This is one of the most common mistakes people make when building a brand online. The worst part is it looks harmless, and you cannot see it coming.
If you are not convinced this is bad for your business, the following example should convince you:
A customer tweets saying that a product from your company is defective. If you choose not to respond or respond many days after, the customer is going to see you as an irresponsible brand that is not concerned about its customers. This can spread fast.
When a customer takes the time to write to you, it means you have the chance of fixing things and winning their favor. It is a good sign when a customer chooses to inform you about a problem instead of dismissing your brand without saying anything. You should always try your best to respond as soon as possible to fix the problem and avoid makes things worse.
Creating Fake Reviews
This is a mistake that many brands make. When you leave reviews that are full of compliments for your brand, you are hurting it without even knowing. If you overdo fake reviews, people are going to see through it. If you have released a product or service and haven’t received any reviews, do not write the reviews or pay people to do it because it is going to backfire and leave a big mess.
People are very smart. They will know when you buy fake reviews, and it will almost be impossible to recover the trust of your customers and prospects.
