Managing online customer ratings and reviews are considered important not only for big corporate giants but also for booming businesses. In this, businesses tend to overlook the impact reputation management has on brands, especially smaller brands.

It takes only one dissatisfied customer to tarnish your years of brand reputation. And for a small business or brand, it means a lot. People now have access to the internet and contact brands immediately is they face a problem. Failure to address the problems in time might lead to severe consequences. Some marketing experts say, 'Negative publicity is also publicity.' Not in this case, my friend! The Internet has reduced the barriers and made it easier for customers to either build up a brand or destroy it.

But, if a prepared and planned online reputation strategy is in place, the brands will be able to reduce the impact of these negative reviews. Brands may be better able to respond rapidly and effectively to minimize both monetary losses.

Before beginning with the tips to professionally manage online reputation, let's first understand what does it mean.

Online Reputation Management

Techopedia defines it as, "Online reputation management (ORM) is the practice of crafting strategies that shape or influence the public perception of an organization, individual or other entity on the Internet. It helps drive public opinion about a business and its products and services."

In other words, it is what others see when they look for you online.

Now that we know what it means, here are some quick tips to help a small brand get started.

#1 An Indispensable Online Presence

It's high time small brands realize the importance of online presence and not only on Facebook but across platforms like Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. Platforms like Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. could be added depending on the nature of business and a couple of other parameters.

For eg., A local dance academy can have a Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account. Creating a LinkedIn account is not a compulsion.

#2 Having an Active Online Presence

The story does not end with creating social media accounts. The brands should actively post and engage with the audience. Use these platforms to inform your audience about new launches, store openings, sales and more. Create content keeping their interests in mind and share it with your audience. Keep them engaged with quirky content and posts. Retaining the current audience and adding more through content helps build a good online reputation.

Features like Live, polls, ask away, hashtags, etc. help you create interactive content to engage your audience.

You may create a separate online presence for some of your popular products or services. At times, it may include creating a separate identity by creating dedicated web pages, social media handles, and marketing collaterals.

#3 Role of Key Individuals of the Business

The key individuals of small brands are its founding members and its employees. Customers often want to learn about the founders are and people who work for the brand. Keeping a low profile may not work in your favor as not addressed to people's comment may inversely impact your image and brands' reputation. Hence, marketing expert's advice all key members to create and build a strong profile online, especially on LinkedIn.

"Your brand name is only as good as your reputation" – Richard Branson

#4 Create a Blog

Blogging is the easiest way to prevent bad publicity. Creating good content and using relevant keywords help brands rank higher on search engines. The results of a sound SEO and ORM strategy results in a higher rank and better reputation. Implying that during crises, the search engines would still be giving your brand links a higher rank as compared to the ones with negative reviews.

#5 Importance of Public Relations (PR)

PR or digital PR can help build a strong online reputation. A small brand needs to be aware of the media's thoughts on them. You should also keep track of the information disseminated to the public.

Maintaining healthy and cordial media relations comes to rescue during the time of crises. Incorporating this into your online reputation management strategy is as important as all the other steps.

"If I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on public relations" – Bill Gates

#6 Make an Investment

Building up a brands reputation requires a lot of time, effort and money. It is impossible for the owner to manage the business and also take care of the brands online reputation together. It is recommended to have a dedicated person to take care of this. In addition, a small brand can invest in a good ORM tool that makes the work a lot easier and more effective. These are real-time monitoring tools that tracks your brand on every online platform.

Some of the popular online reputation management tools are:

• Google Alerts
• Social Mention
• Meltwater
• SimilarWeb
• Reputology
• Review Push
• GatherUp, and many more.

These tools monitor your brand's presence online and give you a detailed report. This in turn, helps to take timely corrective actions.

By following these tips, you and your brand would be in a stronger position during a crisis situation. Proactive online reputation management is a form of insurance, it won't completely keep you off the damage, but it could mitigate the damage done. And more so, keep it away from being worse.

When compared to their counterparts, small brands are much more vulnerable to online reputation attacks. Hence, a sound and well-crafted online reputation management strategy will certainly pay off in the long run!