Many business owners make an attempt to perform online reputation management without the help of an expert. Most of the time, these individuals decide that there’s way too much work involved, and expert help is actually the one thing that’s missing. Focusing on brand reputation is basically a full-time job, especially if company growth is on your agenda.
Although there’s a good chance you’ll decide to hire a reputation management company after all, you can still give your best effort for DIY reputation management. Trying it out yourself before hiring an expert is actually a great way to get a feel for the necessary steps, and at least give you a better understanding of the importance of reputation management.
If you do choose to go at it alone, you’ll need to invest in a few handy tools for monitoring reviews and engaging social media followers. Some of these tools will cost you a pretty penny, while others are completely free of charge. We’ll start with the free resources for monitoring your online reputation.
Google Alerts
The best part of using Google Alerts is that it’s entirely free. All you have to do is visit your Google Settings pages and set alerts for your desired keywords or phrases. Once this is done, you’ll receive an alert every time someone searches for those keywords or phrases. This is a great tool for seasoned marketers as well as beginner-level reputation management DIYers.
Social Mention
Another free tool that is perfect for reputation manangement is Social Mention. It works in a similar way to Google Alerts, except Social Mention focuses entirely on social media platforms. Social Mention is partnered with over 80 social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Youtube.
Social Mention doesn’t just monitor when your brand is mentioned, it also provides details on how to improve your brands social media reputation. You’ll receive regular updates on things like the strength of your social media presence, the ratio of positive to negative comments on your brand, and how far your social media accounts are reaching.
SentiOne
Search Engine Journal has ranked SentiOne as one of the essential tools for successful online reputation management. “SentiOne helps you to pay attention to what your customers or others generally are saying about your brand,” says Search Engine Journal. “With SentiOne, you’ll get access to not just real-time data but historical data too – what people may have said about your brand in the past before you began using SentiOne.”
Reputology
To monitor your reputation to the fullest, you’ll want to create a Reputology account. Reputology is a platform that helps to monitor your company’s reviews on a variety of platforms. Monitoring reviews becomes more and more challenging as your company grows, but of course growth is the main goal.
This tool is perfect for listening to what your customers have to say about you and responding in the best way possible. A few negative reviews are inevitable, but they don’t have to be the end-all to your brand’s rep.
