Content Marketing and Online Reputation – How Your Agency Wins at Both

Sometimes, businesses may not realize the power of customer feedback until it’s too late.

Fact: Customers will always find fault with a brand, and a brand that isn’t paying attention to what customers say will find itself on the short end of the stick.

While you don’t have any hold on what customers say about your client’s brand, there is something you can control – managing your clients’ reputation and providing your clients with high-quality content that makes the best possible impression among their customer base.

Start with a Great Content Marketing Strategy

What does content have to do with a brand’s reputation? Everything.

In this digital age, some customers are quick to believe what they read online. Content that talks about a brand or anything related to it can affect a customer’s perception. It only takes one viral story to undo a brand’s reputation, and the effect can be as damaging as a virtual hurricane.

Content marketing can be a powerful reinforcement for your online reputation management initiatives. It helps in building trust for your client’s brand and defining their value proposition across their niche. It connects them with their audience by addressing issues or providing answers to queries. More importantly, content allows your client to tell their story.

How to Make Content and Online Reputation Management Work

Content marketing and online reputation management are both ongoing processes. If your strategies for either are half-baked, expect the same half-baked results. So, how do you employ an effective strategy that utilizes content marketing and reputation management?

#1 Don’t come unprepared.

Think of the digital space as a battlefield. If you want to trump the competition, you need to be prepared. The great thing about reputation management and content marketing is the availability of tools to streamline processes.

Using the right content marketing and reputation management tools can provide you with the arsenal for your marketing initiatives. Among other things, these can help you:

• Track reviews and brand mentions
• Propagate customer feedback across different channels
• Monitor conversations for content ideation
• Provide an efficient response system for customer feedback

#2 Keep an eye on your client’s owned online properties

A big part of reputation management is monitoring your client’s owned online properties. These are the content pieces that you can control – website, published blogs, and social media channels.

One of the important things you need to check on your client’s online properties is their Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP). Make sure their NAP is consistent and accurate across all channels.

Customers are likely to leave a negative review or avoid transactions with businesses that have inaccurate information.

Think of it this way – will you give a five-star rating to a business that doesn’t have the right contact numbers on its page? Any customer is likely to feel frustrated with this experience, and they’ll likely share this sentiment to other customers. Instead of waiting for the low star ratings or complaints to come in, be proactive in finding any inconsistency with your client’s information.

#3 Add influencer marketing into the mix

It’s easier to build the credibility of a business if there’s someone of authority backing it up. One strategy that allows you to leverage this is influencer marketing.

Using influencers as part of your content marketing and reputation management strategy allows you to:

• Increase awareness: Influencers have thousands of followers who may be interested in your client’s business. When they share content about your client or mention their business, they expose the brand to potential customers.
• Build trust: Customers are more likely to believe what they read if it comes from an expert or someone who has authority.
• Provide fresh content: Reaching out to influencers is also one way of providing fresh content, such as reviews or blogs discussing your client’s brand.

IMPORTANT: Don’t reach out to all influencers – just to the ones who are in your client’s niche. Use tools like Buzzsumo and Deep Social when prospecting potential influencers.

#4 Use negative feedback as an opportunity

As ironic as it may sound, negative feedback is not all bad. Why? Three reasons: authenticity, engagement, and credibility.

Negative feedback makes a brand look real in the eyes of customers. After all, no business is perfect. If a brand doesn’t have a single bad review, its authenticity will be questioned.

Experiences that customers share – whether good or bad – help you better understand who they are and what they expect. This, in turn, provides you with more ways to create better, substantive messaging that genuinely speaks to the customers. And it enables you to highlight your client’s strengths in every piece of content you produce.

Final Thoughts

Providing excellent customer service – that’s on your clients.

Your work as an agency goes beyond driving traffic or designing a website. A chunk of your responsibility also falls on taking care of their brand. Their success is your success. If their online reputation falls short, that’s on you.