We know that customer perception of a business is an infectious thing, as it can greatly influence other customers as well. We have been talking about online reputation management and its importance for a while now.
But how are companies in the real-world going about it?
It is time to look at some online reputation management examples and learn from them.
But before we begin let us do a brief recap.
Recap: What is online reputation management?
Online reputation management is the strategic managing, monitoring and influencing of a brands reputation or perception on the internet. It mainly involves the promotion of a positive brand image while attempting to reduce critical views. Good online reputation management helps build the credibility of a brand among the audience and increase trust among customers.
Most customers research small and midscale businesses online before deciding on purchasing. Hence building a positive online reputation is important to not deter these potential customers.
10 good online reputation management examples and lessons to takeaway
While there are several brands following different online reputation management techniques, here are some we absolutely love:
1. Nike Support
Nike is one giant of a sports brand. But one would think that while offering fine customer support and improving their content marketing efforts and trying to hold together the functions of such a huge company, there might not be enough time for online reputation management. But Nike does even this seamlessly.
What one can learn from Nike’s online reputation management is the creation of a dedicated support handle for social media. Nike uses a separate Twitter account titled NikeSupport to handle customer queries directly from the platform.
Social media is primarily where all your negatives and positives will be taken up for discussion by your audience. You can track your tags and hashtags, react to comments where you are mentioned, and get back to customers without delay to maintain a positive brand perception.
2. Amazon
While Amazon has faced a lot of negative criticism in the media, it maintains a devoted customer following and consistently expands its market share annually. It has remained at the top of the online shopping industry with a dauntingly positive reputation. But how?
Amazon employs automation to solve diverse kinds of customer feedback and queries and takes it further to its inbound call centers when needed.
Amazon customer support representatives are accessible round the clock to assist with order mistakes, provide refunds within a 30-day window, ensure next-day delivery, and offer additional services.
With hassle free refund processes, Amazon offers an exceptionally great issue resolution process for customers, it solidifies a hugely positive reputation while maintaining customer trust.
3. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is one of the world’s most popular cold-beverage brands in the world and yet it is able to offer highly personal interaction with customers daily by active social listening. The Coca-Cola social media team monitors all references to their brand on social platforms, even if not explicitly tagged.
In the below example, we see them referring to a popular TikTok trend for humor. These tactics work as it humanizes the brand and makes for a positive perception.
4. Adobe
The Twitter account of Adobe goes beyond just sharing marketing updates. The brand utilizes social listening to assist designers encountering technical problems, seeking answers, or requiring additional support.
Their team is rapid in its responses and they answer queries both publicly as well as via direct messaging through their @AdobeCares handle. Adobe has answered customers over 400,000 times since the year 2020. Since solving queries is a huge part of customer retention, Adobe doesn’t take any chances, and this significantly contributes to its brand reputation.
5. Patagonia
Patagonia’s way of online reputation management is to ensure that they always align with the customer’s values. This outdoor clothing brand donates 1% of its sales to environmental organizations, which makes for actual action instead of merely paying lip service in the name of the environment like many other brands. This dedication has fostered a robust sense of confidence among customers who share similar values.
Patagonia also places a high emphasis on customer satisfaction through its Ironclad Guarantee. This commitment ensures that customers can return any Patagonia product for a replacement, refund, or repair, irrespective of the purchase date. By being mindful of what the customers value (and caring for the planet) Patagonia is able to ensure that their brand is always in a positive light.
6. Glossier
Glossier, the popular beauty brand has seen a very positive response to their social media efforts. They go the extra mile to build a trusty community with their user-generated campaigns like “Skin First, Makeup Second” where they feature their customers on their social media pages.
Even their subreddit boasts over 41,000 active members, a strong community of loyal buyers advocating their brand.
7. Chewy
Chewy is a well-known online store that specializes in delivering pet food and supplies directly to customers’ homes. Chewy delivered custom-painted pet portraits to thousands of customers who were grieving the loss of their beloved pets.
This genuine act of kindness and love spread across socials like TikTok which instantly made the brand the talk of town. Chewy proves that online reputation management isn’t only about putting out fires and customer service but also about genuinely caring about your customers.
8. Zappos
Zappos has always been able to consistently provide the best customer experience. Zappos is committed to astonishing every customer with exceptional proactive customer service, allowing contact center agents to surpass expectations through personal gestures like handwritten cards or delivering flowers, especially in challenging situations.
The philosophy here is simple, top-notch customer service means a highly positive online reputation. Zappos is one of the best online reputation management examples that proves this fact effortlessly.
9. JetBlue
JetBlue is an airway corporation that sets a great example of effective online reputation management. Encountering delays or cancellations in air travel can be immensely frustrating for customers. In such situations, many customers express their frustration on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
JetBlue acknowledged the challenges faced by the airline industry in terms of reputation and proactively worked to establish itself as a company prioritizing customer service. So, when customers complain about a delay or a canceled flight JetBlue instantly provides helpful responses. The lesson here is empathetic listening and active issue-resolution efforts.
10. ASOS
ASOS is an online fashion and cosmetic retailer that ships its products across the globe. This means transportation often can give rise to problems for the brand. But how does one maintain a positive brand image, when faced with criticism on these problems?
ASOS replies instantly to the customer and even contacts them over a call to privately talk to resolve the problem. The key here is to reassure the customer and provide them solutions without a complicated process along with it.
Bad reputation management examples
Knowing how to conduct good online reputation management, also comes down to knowing about how not to do online reputation management. These are a few bad examples of reputation management, from whose mistakes you can learn from.
1. Chase
Humour, as many businesses use in their customer support tactics, is a great way to connect with your customers. But there is a fine balance that needs to be maintained. In 2019 Chase posted a tweet making fun of a hypothetical person’s spending habits.
The online community instantly replied with Chase’s own negatives stating its high overdraft fees multi-millions in taxpayer bailouts and its bloated executive salaries, all being brought to the forefront. What this shows is that you as a provider of a service or a product do not stand in a place to cast judgment upon your customers, as they play a huge role in your business’s sustenance.
2. KlearGear
One fine example of online reputation management done wrong is KlearGear’s 2013 incident. They received a negative review about an undelivered item to which they responded with a threat of a $3500 fine. The novelty item retail brand cited a non-disparagement clause from their terms of service and threatened the customer with lawsuit.
What did this all yield to? The company was met with huge public backlash and a lawsuit against the brand. The moral of the story: be polite and handle negative feedback with an empathetic tone and conduct.
3. Boners BBQ
The 2012 incident from Boners BBQ, a local barbeque joint in the US, is an example of one of the greatest sins in reputation management. They posted about a customer on social media with offensive captions for not leaving a tip. The post contained both the customer’s image and their name, publicly shaming them.
Soon enough there was an overwhelming public response supporting the customer and negative reviews piled up on the brand. This public backlash was documented by news reports and the restaurant was boycotted by many.
Conclusion
The above examples all convey a very vital thing- opinions and perceptions online can have lasting impacts on the performance of businesses. Managing your online reputation with the proactive display of positives and swift addressing of the negatives, ultimately helps your business stay relevant in the chaotic online world.
For this reason, staying on top of what is happening online is more important than ever. And Radarr helps you achieve exactly this! Thinking of trying it out first?
