How to manage the E-reputation of your online store?
While good web reputation management is imperative for all kinds of businesses, it is especially important for e-commerce. In E-commerce , the perception of brand image can make or break a business.
Reputation has a strong impact on sales , especially for e-commerce stores. We are now talking about positive buzz. If your business becomes popular on the internet, your sales will increase. It is therefore essential to pay attention to this data, a source of opportunities for your store.
The reputation of your business is essential, especially to start an e-commerce activity .
Why is E-reputation important?
A company's e-reputation allows prospects to get an idea of a company they don't know. As in the case of personal web reputation, it does not have two chances to make a good first impression.
The numbers speak for themselves:
- 85% of users check customer feedback before making a purchase.
- 71% of people have confidence after reading reviews left on the internet.
- 79% of consumers believe the comments posted.
If you have a web store, put yourself in the place of Internet users . You want them to buy a product that they have never seen and touched. They must trust the elements presented on your e-commerce. But, would you trust a stranger so easily?
Social proof comes into play here. To increase the sales of your e-commerce, the objective is to gain the confidence of prospects and to overcome the digital barrier.
Having a good reputation has many advantages:
- Improve conversion rate and increase sales.
- Return a reliable, trustworthy and serious image.
- Strengthen the position of the business on the market so that it imposes itself as an essential e-commerce in its field of activity.
- Hit the desired target.
- Develop the loyalty of existing customers.
The impact of negative reviews on your reputation
Contrary to what many businesses think, negative reviews can be good for e-commerce . However, for reviews to have a positive impact on your store , adopt the right attitude.
To enhance your business and not scare away prospects, there are approaches to manage these negative customer reviews.
The first is to apologize and own up to your wrongdoings. Don't hide behind excuses or run away ignoring them. Your future potential customers will not pay attention to the problem. They want to assess how she handled the situation and your responsiveness.
The important thing in the face of a negative comment is to solve the problem and find a solution. If the person is satisfied, they can edit their comment or highlight your company's ability to respond.
Propose an alternative adapted to the inconvenience caused. Please do not copy-paste.
Personalize your approach, show that your company is available to rectify the problem and improve the customer experience.
What are the components of reputation?
Two concepts are to be distinguished in e-reputation : the opinion of the company in general and the evaluation of your offer and your products.
The general image of your e-commerce
Regardless of its size, whether you manage the web store alone or have a team behind you, the general image of your business matters. Consumers want to know who they are dealing with.
You can have the best deal and a breakthrough product, if people don't know more about it, they'll be suspicious and won't buy.
Provide all the information needed to gain their trust: your head office, contact points, your production site, images of your teams, etc.
Create a bubble of trust around your site with elements of reassurance.
Customer reviews of your offer and the products offered
In order to have a good reputation, always put yourself in the consumer's shoes. By searching the internet, before buying, you will probably look at product reviews.
Customer ratings contribute to your brand image and send a positive message. Faced with 1 or 2 star ratings, you will be reluctant. The potential customers of your shop will also be. Monitor customer reviews and analyze what is being said about you.
How to have a good reputation in the long term?
Practices to put in place
Regularly check reviews and respond
For your e-commerce to have a good image on the internet, regularly check what is being said about you. Control search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) but also social networks.
It's important to respond to negative e-commerce reviews tactfully and find solutions to show your commitment.
Ask customers for feedback
Identify your most loyal customers and ask them to write a review about your business and products. If you are reluctant to this idea for fear of disturbing them, offer them a gift in exchange: a promotion, a product offered during their next order, participation in a contest... In this way, you establish a win-win relationship .
Create partnerships with websites
As a leader, your goal is to get consumers to hear about you . To do this, do not hesitate to contact known sites so that they present your products. Strengthen the web reputation of your store through digital magazines. By sending a product for free, you can earn a few lines in their content.
If you have a blog on your e-commerce, send invitations for specialists or bloggers in your field of activity to speak. In your message, state clearly and simply that you would like them to write an article for your site.
How does this practice improve your reputation? If the relevant people accept your invitation, it means that they like your products. They will tend to talk about it to those around them, on their site or on social networks and will promote your shop.
This way you reach more people with a positive message.
Respond to interviews
In order to build a long-term reputation, contact journalists and specialized sites . Introduce your company and explain your desire to answer their questions. This type of content is usually published in physical newspapers. This is why you need to target. Only contact journalists with digital journals and magazines.
Work on your natural referencing
Creating your digital place is essential to stand out from the competition and appear in the first results of search engines. Especially on Google, having a good SEO can increase visits to your website. On your product pages, use relevant keywords.
In addition, be present on strategic sites : forums. Consumers ask questions here. Provide answers or solutions to their problem with the products sold on your store. The goal here is not to spam all sites with your URL. You will create an amateurish image. Filter and be relevant.
For example, your website offers acne creams. Go to all the forums where the problem concerns the buttons. You will find an audience potentially interested in what you offer.
Google is also your brand's calling card. Developing a positive reputation on Google allows you to stand out from your competitors and reassure consumers. An agency specializing in E-reputation like Net Offensive can help you manage your image and develop a positive presence.
Content production
Getting people talking about your business means being present and creating quality content. Bet on the variety of your media. If you write blog posts, make podcasts or create videos. They have the power to captivate Internet users and are easily shared.
Make sure it gets said about you
To preserve your reputation, pay attention to what is being said about you . A simple rumor can ruin your brand image. For this reason, kindly ask for the removal of false or invented ideas about your e-commerce.
If you find that this approach does not work, do not hesitate to file a lawsuit for defamation.
In this type of situation, if you notice that ideas are circulating about your business, speak up. On your site, post a statement or disclaimer.
Be transparent
When opening a store, be prepared to be exposed to criticism . Indeed, thanks to social networks and evaluation platforms, consumers have more opportunities to give their opinion.
On the internet, prospects are prepared to find negative business reviews. If there is none, Internet users will doubt your transparency.
Faced with negative comments, take the time to respond and understand the situation.
The Community Manager: creating your place in the market
With the development of social networks and the growing impact of social proof, the work of a Community manager can help the development of your company and its E-reputation. His work focuses on the visibility and reputation of your web business.
Create a community around your brand
The Community Manager aims to animate your digital media to captivate Internet users. To do this, he creates an editorial strategy in line with the target and the sector of activity. As soon as people like the content produced, they will follow your news. The goal is to take care of these subscribers.
These communities exist mainly on social networks. These platforms provide access to the profiles of Internet users who are interested in your store and your products. It is then possible to interact directly with them, like or comment on the photos until sending a private message. This substantive work breaks down the digital barrier and creates proximity between users and your company.
Improve visibility
These ideas of communities are especially true on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Consumers follow and interact with their favorite brands. Faced with competition, the Community Manager has the power to find the tricks to make you a place on the home pages. To achieve this result, it is necessary in particular to work on the #. Only people with digital marketing skills have the keys to making your store visible.
Generate reactions
Companies are hearing the word “engagement” more and more . It corresponds to the participation rate of people on brand accounts. This figure shows the percentage of users who exchange and react to published content. The Community Manager has the potential to write engaging descriptions and thus generate reactions.
A high engagement rate is an important legitimacy factor for posts. This means that people like what you present.
Respond to consumer questions
Prospects are used to using social media . It occurs to them more quickly to ask the question to the brand on Twitter rather than to consult the frequently asked questions available on the website.
One of the missions of the Community Manager is to answer questions from customers or potential customers. Having a quick and personalized response shows interest in consumers.
By having a constant presence on social networks, the Community Manager has the power to retain prospects and get closer to them.
Monitor competitors
Almost every business has a social media marketing strategy. This is probably the case with your competitors. Competitive intelligence must be carried out by the Community Manager. He will thus identify what they are doing to differentiate themselves or analyze the trends to follow in order to be visible.
Without this analytical work, your message runs the risk of not being heard.
Equip yourself with the best tools to check your reputation
Online reputation is virtual data. It can be difficult to measure. It is important to test your presence and reputation regularly in order to identify problems and position yourself in relation to the competition.
Tools can help you manage it:
- Google Alerts: receive personalized notifications when your company name is present on a site. You can also activate them for any type of content you want. More advanced monitoring tools also exist.
- Facebook notifications: be informed as soon as a user leaves a comment or quotes you in a publication. The system is the same on Twitter or Instagram. If you want to receive notifications, activate them directly from your profile. Solutions make it possible to centralize all mentions to simplify management.
- Protection of your brand: by registering your brand with dedicated organisations, your company is protected. You get rights and protections. There's nothing worse for your store's reputation than counterfeiting. Pay particular attention to products similar to your offer, to the usurpation of your name.
E-reputation influences consumers to buy your offer. Learn how to take care of your e-reputation and control what is said about your e-commerce.
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