How Paid Search Marketing and 4 More Marketing Techniques Keep Your Brand Primed For Maximum Success
Consumers have the power to make or break your reputation. In the digital age, each online user has a voice to sing your praises or express disappointment – and everyone else can see it.
Your brand’s reputation can quickly evolve – positively or negatively. That’s why it’s important that you take a responsive approach to your online reputation. Although you can’t control what every person thinks of your business, certain tools can help you manage overall consumer perception.
These five marketing techniques, including paid search advertising, are the most empowering forms of reputation management available today.
1. Paid Search Marketing and Brand Reputation
When you search for your business or your services and products, what comes up in the search engine ranking pages first? Do your competitors show up? Do unflattering articles about your products or services appear before your website’s pages?
Paid search ads give you a boost above the competition by putting your company in the best real estate available: the top of the search engines.
Paid search services give you the opportunity to bid on keywords you know customers are searching for. The more competitive your bid, the more likely it is that you’ll see your name and message at the top of search rankings. This digital marketing service allows you to keep a positive, strong marketing message up high, regardless of what appears below.
Some companies may even try to bid on your business name as a keyword, so their name pops up when consumers search your business. However, you can work around these deceptive tactics and create a robust paid search advertising strategy that will keep you front and center.
2. Social Media Management
Social media management is another effective way to control the narrative about your business. What you post is what viewers see, so you can tell your brand’s story in the way you choose. You also have an opportunity to use social media for the following tactics that boost your reputation:
Post positive reviews to showcase how you’ve made a difference for customers.
Respond to comments from users.
Share content that demonstrates your commitment to customer service and your value as a business.
Share images of your team members to humanize your business.
Social media is your voice online. When you post reviews, images, responses, and more, you’re creating brand equity by establishing your value, engagement, and dedication. When a consumer is disappointed in your services and posts a negative review, you get to cash in on that equity, as other users will still continue to see all the positives about your business. You should post frequently and strategically to largely outweigh any negative feedback.
Combining social media management with paid search ads will give you opportunities to tell your story exactly how you want to tell it on multiple channels.
3. Focus On Your Google Business Profile
Alongside so-called “brand management” consulting companies that claim to be able to manage your business’s reputation for you, U.S. News and World Report lists Google Business Profile (GBP) as a top tool for reputation management – and it’s free.
Every business can get verified by Google to claim their profile on Google search. This gives you access to tools that tell consumers who you are, even before they click on your website.
GBP works like a “pre-website” before users click on your actual site. You can:
- Upload your business’s information, including phone number, address, website, hours of operation, specials, promotions, and more.
- Post images and captions, much like a social media platform.
- Directly respond to positive and negative Google reviews.
- Create a Q & A section for users.
- Showcase your products and services.
Each of these features make a difference for those who may be browsing through search engine results related to your business. When they come across their profile, you have the power to control what they see. When you’re active on GBP, your business appears legitimate and trustworthy.
4. How You Respond to Reviews Matters
Every business receives negative reviews. However, like most things in life, how you respond makes the difference.
In a recent neuroscientific study conducted in collaboration between two academic institutions in China and Australia, researchers used eye-tracking software to determine that negative reviews tend to weigh more heavily on consumers than positive reviews.
This should give you the motivation to not only limit these reviews, but attempt to outnumber them with the story you want to tell.
Consider this scenario: you receive a review in which your customer says they are disappointed with your service, disliked their experience, and don’t plan to shop with you again. Here’s what to do:
- Respond to the customer and to the public: Remember that you’re not only responding to them, but to all the users who will see this review and your response in the future.
- Be empathetic: Acknowledge their feelings and experience. It’s important to recognize their reality, not try to refute it. Try “I’m sorry we didn’t meet your expectations.” Repeating what the customer said back to them is a demonstration of empathy and good listening.
- Take the opportunity to explain your business’s values: Clearly state your business’s mission for customer service. Now, reiterate what you strive to do during every interaction or transaction. This is an opportunity to state who you are, not who your reviewer says you are.
- Do the right thing: State your intention to improve their experience. Ask for that chance. Provide the contact information for a team member who can work with the customer, should they choose to reach out, and meet their needs. Yes, you can have boundaries about what you’re willing to do, but you can also find ways to make your customer happy.
- Don’t take the bait: Sometimes reviews can get out of control. We recommend avoiding arguments and flagging reviews if they don’t meet Google’s content policies. Some businesses choose to respond humorously or sarcastically, but only you can decide if that fits with your vision for how you want customers to perceive you.
5. Cultivating Good Reviews Isn’t Vanity. It’s a Necessity.
Negative reviews may garner more attention for some consumers, yet imagine a business with an absence of positive reviews. That would make the decision process extremely fast for most consumers. Because 40% of consumers always read reviews, you have to ensure you have as many good ones as possible.
To gather positive reviews, make it easy for customers to share their experience. Here are some ways companies ask for reviews:
- CTAs: Include calls to action on your website, so people know how to leave a review.
- Accessible opportunities: Consider creating a form that customers can easily use.
- Ask nicely: Politely request a review with no strings attached when you’re finishing up a transaction.
- Follow up: Send a request by email to the customers in your database.
- Share links: Include a link to your GBP in your email signature that customers can use to leave a review. Consider putting this on social media, too.
Consumers make decisions based on reviews. However, be sure that you don’t get tempted to encourage people to write fake reviews. An extensive review of this deceptive practice determined that “fake praise significantly affects consumers’ judgment of the authenticity of reviews, thereby affecting consumers’ purchase intentions.”
Consumers are smart. You don’t want to insult their intelligence. Fake reviews can cost businesses, to the tune of $3.8 trillion each year.
Partner With an Agency With a Variety Of Offerings, Including Paid Search Marketing Expertise
Focusing on what you can control, while providing an exceptional service experience for your customers, is a tried-and-true tactic. This approach doesn’t require eye-tracking technology or a degree in neuroscience.
You can control:
- Paid search ads: Leveraging paid search advertising to keep your message at the top of searches for your brand, as well as keywords relevant to your products, service, and industry. You also can invest in search engine optimization to enhance your organic presence.
- Social media: Sharing the story you want to tell on all the platforms, including social media, your GBP, and your website.
- Cultivating positive reviews: Requesting your customers write online reviews and graciously responding to those you’ve received.
- Emphasizing service: Going above and beyond for your customers to ensure their satisfaction.
Establishing a good reputation as a business isn’t a difficult process when you partner with a digital marketing agency that offers full-funnel strategies. Developing a long-term strategy to enhance your brand’s reputation is a powerful way to boost your business.
Even if your reputation is “fine,” you don’t want to shy away from putting effort into your brand’s story. Indifference to improving your brand perception is ultimately just as dangerous as any negative review.
Peter Mishler, senior digital copywriter at iFocus Marketing, is dedicated to using language to help clients find their audiences. He is the author of two books: a Kathryn A. Morton Prize-winning collection of poetry, from Sarabande Books (2018) and a book of reflections for public school teachers from Andrews McMeel Publishing (2021). His poetry has appeared in many national publications, including The Paris Review, and he is a contributing editor for Literary Hub. New to marketing, Peter taught English for 15 years.
