Reputation management is an activity that construction marketing and PR professionals, as well as senior board members, need to proactively monitor and manage. Reputation management spans online and offline. It’s a vast topic but one that can be managed relatively easily with the correct processes in place. The most important factor is awareness that it’s required.
The age old saying goes, you don’t need it until you need it. Turn the clocks back 30 years and primarily reputation management was about defining a set of rules, code of conduct and guidelines for employees, brand messages, do’s and don’t for marketing, and of course disaster recovery plans and press statements. It was primarily about what your brand is pushing out into the construction domain via press and your sales teams.
In the modern era, day to day management of your businesses reputation is a much higher priority and extends far beyond the realms of messaging and people management.
Your online profile is critical to the perception of your building product or construction brand. In the world of social media, online reviews and malicious data and website attacks, your brand can be hugely damaged in a matter of minutes. Whether you are building product manufacturer, contractor, merchant or professional construction body or membership organisation, the consequences can be disastrous.
Stay in control of your online brand reputation
If you don’t have a proactive brand reputation plan, you are putting your business at risk. Proactivity is the key phrase when it comes to online reputation. By being proactive you can breed positivity in the online community, deal with any negative comments in a positive light and even boost your SERP rankings.
Using reviews for online reputation management
Online reviews, Google My Business and social signals all contribute to how Google perceives your business – just as your potential prospects do. Positive sentiment in the language used about your brand online also contributes – meaning positive customer experiences has benefits far and wide.
There are many tactics that can be used to improve your online reviews. Burying bad reviews and comments is a lot harder work! So be proactive and collect great reviews from your existing advocates.
Protecting your website
Data and website attacks are becoming common place. Many companies overlook their IT infrastructure and website security and often separate this responsibility from marketing and brand reputation. If your website gets hacked it can lead to data breaches, loss of service for your customers and damage customer perception. Expectation of customers is higher and higher, driven by a ‘now’ culture. Don’t scrimp on hosting and added security costs! Great hosting and extra security is worth every penny.
Developing a reputation management strategy
Developing your reputation strategy is not a luxury – its a must. A short list of things to consider are:
- Risk management
- Product and product claim messaging
- Regulation and standards messaging
- Comms messages
- Website security standards
- Online profile management
- Social listening
- Negative response processing
- Disaster recovery
- Employee media training
- Ex employee strategy
If you need help to develop your approach, Pauley Creative will be glad to draw on their vast knowledge to help you develop a refined brand management plan that protects, improves or restores your brand image to where it needs to be.
We'll help to distinguish the support you need to successfully manage your brand reputation
Suzanne Golder
Strategic & Commercial Director