B2B Online Reputation Strategies

What is online reputation?

Your online reputation is what others see of you when they search for you online. Your online reputation can be your biggest asset or your biggest liability. In today's digital age, online recommendations are a powerful tool. That's why it's essential for business owners to refine their online reputation management strategies.

Online reputation management

Online reputation management means taking control of the online conversation. Its techniques and strategies ensure that people find the right thing when they search for you on the internet.

The purpose of online reputation management is to create balance, counter misleading trends and allow you to put your best foot forward.

As much as companies like to think that they have a high degree of control over the public perception of their brand, the fact is that this is not always the case. No matter how well your company is doing, optimizing sales processes and activities is a never-ending story that benefits tremendously from a strong online reputation. What's more, there will always be critics and detractors. In an online environment where a negative review can be spread and shared around the world within minutes, companies need to dedicate resources to an online reputation management (ORM) strategy.

A quality ORM strategy focuses on proactive measures to build reputation. For example, to create balance, counter misleading trends and show your best side.

Google yourself

Clients very often search for the company name of providers followed by the keyword “experiences” (example GmbH experiences).

You should always be aware of any mentions of your company name and the reasons why it is mentioned. Sometimes this can give you a valuable insight into what your customers are thinking, but more importantly it can help you spot any mentions that show you in a negative light and take action immediately.

For example, if someone complains about the quality of service, you can get in touch with them and offer solutions to the problem. In the long run, you can even use negative experiences to your advantage, as human psychology makes an efficiently solved problem a more memorable and positive experience than a good service. Such services as Google Alerts are excellent tools for this purpose.

Why online reputation is important for B2B companies

B2B customers form an opinion about your company based in part on what search engines have to say about it. Here are some statistics that prove this fact:

• 42% of potential customers Google the people they want to do business with.

• 45% of people change their mind after reading about a business online.

• 68% of business owners consider reviews to be the most important indicator of trust.

Furthermore, while most B2B companies have a higher profit margin compared to B2C companies, they also have a smaller customer base. It is also more difficult to generate a lead in B2B than in B2C. Therefore, it is essential for B2B companies to build a solid online reputation.

Measures to build online reputation

There are a number of ways for B2B companies to build and maintain their online reputation. Here we have compiled a list of measures that will help you build a solid reputation for your company in the vertical industry:

1. customer testimonials and case studies strengthen your online reputation

It's well known that a customer's word carries much more weight than the word of the company itself when it comes to backing up a provider's qualifications and experience. Use existing referral portals for your industry to gather relevant customer referrals and showcase your case studies. In fact, according to G2 Crowd, approximately 92% of B2B buyers "use online review sites to get information and recommendations to support their buying decisions.”

Your customer recommendations should be meaningful in content and address key strengths and qualifications of your business. Simple 5-star ratings with content such as “I can only recommend” or “Top company” are of little relevance, especially in the B2B environment.

For B2B service providers in the fields of IT services, development, online marketing, advertising and design, we at Feedbax offer a customized solution for such customer recommendations. 

For case studies, you should take some time to make them as detailed as possible. Important aspects that should not be missing in a case study are

• Customer
• sector
• Project duration
• Expertise and focus
• Project description
• Project challenges
• Solutions
• Results

2. your company website

To evaluate a provider's products and services, the first thing a potential customer will do is google the company. The very first step is to visit the company website: This is why it is crucial for B2B entrepreneurs to make sure that no mistakes are made when designing the website.

Website visitors tend to make gut decisions, so you only have a few seconds to impress them. How can you convert visitors into customers in less than a minute? The best way is to use “social proof”.

Positive reviews and recommendations from customers on your website entice visitors to stay longer and motivate them to take action. B2B entrepreneurs must therefore publish captivating customer testimonials on the homepage. Another great way to build a positive reputation for your company is to publish detailed case studies of customers' experiences with your business.

You should also include snippets of your customers' feedback in other marketing arenas such as emails, social media posts and PPC ads.

3. use the potential of social media for your online reputation

Social media has revolutionized the world. Millions upon millions of people use social platforms to make purchasing decisions, but also to stay in touch with friends. This also applies to B2B companies.

This huge number makes it essential for B2B companies to have an active presence on social platforms. In addition, the search engine giant Google gives social platforms a high level of authority. Positive comments on social platforms lead to higher rankings in the search algorithms.

However, not all social platforms are suitable for your company. You need to find out which platforms your target group is present on. Popular social platforms for B2B companies are LinkedIn and Twitter.

If you have an active presence on the relevant social platforms, you have a unique opportunity to build brand awareness, establish credibility and ensure your business has a competitive advantage over others in your industry. It's important to study the best social media practices for businesses to be successful.

4. content marketing: an effective way to optimize your online reputation

Content marketing is still a very effective way to increase your brand's presence and online reputation. A core objective of content marketing is to provide valuable, relevant information while highlighting the company's unique selling points. This is often achieved by effectively managing optimized blog posts that drive traffic and provide value to the reader.

Content marketing tips

• Your blog is a good platform where you can promote your services through informative articles. It's also a great way to showcase your awards and industry accolades. You can also provide case studies or introduce new products and services through a blog.
• Your content marketing needs to be optimized by using smart search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. Focus on the competitive keywords you want to rank for and incorporate them into your copy. The idea is to increase your visibility.
• Encourage your audience and prospects to engage with your blog. You can do this by engaging with them through multi-page conversations.

The goal here is for your content marketing strategy to support your online reputation. Build your brand authority while moving your audience to action. Produce more content that showcases your company's strongest points. An optimized content plan can generate positive engagement and, when necessary, help you regain your momentum from negative comments.

According to reports, content marketing is considered an important marketing strategy by 88% of B2B companies, so there's a good chance your competitors are using this tactic. To stand out from the crowd and make a strong impression of your company, you should brand yourself as a thought leader.

The key to being a thought leader in your industry is to regularly publish relevant, informative and fresh content.

To make your content contagious, find out exactly what your target audience needs, what problems they have in relation to your market and how your product/service can help them solve their problems, and incorporate this information into engaging articles. Take the time to learn how to create engaging content and make sure you stay on top of the latest changes in your industry to prevent your platform from becoming irrelevant.

Maintain a content calendar and stick to it. This way you will get the attention you want, build a reputation in your industry and generate qualified leads for your business.

5. implement a reputation strategy for your company

If you're not taking the above steps to build your online reputation, remember - your competitors are. It's important that you link your reputation strategy to your digital marketing strategy. Invest your money in building and maintaining your brand reputation. A strong online reputation will automatically promote your brand and generate more leads for your business.

Encourage reviews. Stay proactive and interact with your audience. One way to do this is through email marketing. Stay in touch with your customers. Ask them about their experience working with you. The key is to let them know that you value their feedback. You should also be systematic and timely - ask them to recommend your company after they've been delighted with your services.

Respond to all feedback. More than 53% of clients expect businesses to respond to their reviews. Acknowledging and acting on feedback shows both your current and future clients how much your brand values its customers. When you respond to this feedback, you encourage others to recommend your services.

Also, pay close attention to your negative reviews. Respond professionally, without becoming defensive, and apologize for the incident that disappointed or upset your customer. Provide an explanation only when necessary and focus on ways to resolve the incident. This gesture not only promotes excellent customer service, but can encourage the customer to change or remove their negative feedback altogether.

6. get professional help from experts

Managing your brand presence and online reputation takes time and effort. The problem for many businesses is that they tend to overlook some of the most important and easiest to implement points when it comes to brand reputation. Many business owners find that they don't have the time to invest in learning the intricacies of digital marketing and reputation management. For this reason, many businesses invest in the services of online reputation management companies.

Working with an online reputation management company makes reputation management easy. As a business owner, you can focus on your business operations and rest assured that your online reputation will be handled with care and professionalism.

The Feedbax reputation service

To make building your online reputation much easier, we take care of the entire referral process for you. Our personal referral service minimizes the referral effort for both you and your customers. This is how it works:

You submit a project reference and tell us your client-side contact.

We arrange a 15-minute interview with your customer.

We write and publish the corresponding customer recommendation for you.

We keep the recommendation process short and pleasant for both you and your customers.

Conclusion

Managing your online reputation should of course be part of your digital marketing efforts. However, this is an ongoing process and it's important to monitor your online presence regularly. This is a lot to ask of a business owner or a small team with many other important tasks.