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Online Reputation Management Survey

 

The McKremie Online Reputation Management Survey provides a good insight into the behaviors of consumers when it comes to reviews and the online reputation of companies they have done business with. At the end of the survey are "tips from the experts" about online reputation management.

The survey was conducted online between October 25, 2012 and November 6, 2012. The vast majority of people surveyed were consumers 18 years of age or older and most were from the USA. If you would like to see more information about the respondents please click here.

How often do you research companies online before deciding to do business with them?
Graph 1 Matt Siltala

"The fact that only 3% surveyed never check out brands online before doing business is eye opening if you are in the reputation management field in any way.  If you have not done a good job of having clean SERPs this could be a big deal."  -Matt Siltala

 

As a consumer have you ever posted a product or service review online?
Graph 2 Stuart McHenry

"I think companies need to look at this data carefully.  The fact that 71% of those surveyed have left reviews online is huge.  Nowadays it’s becoming more and more common place to leave reviews online about the companies you interact with and this number will only go up.  These reviews will most likely live on the Internet for the life of the business.  Companies need to get systems in place to foster good reviews and react to negative ones." –Stuart McHenry

 

Which type of reviews have you left online? (Multiple responses per survey were accepted)
Graph 3 Andy Beal

"We generally tend to think that consumers only post reviews when motivated by some kind of negative experience. This survey suggests that online reviews have become more than a means to complain, with 68% of consumers sharing their positive experiences as well." -Andy Beal

 

While searching for reviews how many pages in Google will you look through to find reviews about a company?
Graph 4 Alan Bleiweiss

"It’s not surprising that people dig beyond the first page of results.  It only makes sense that people are going to want to invest time in real research, and it’s also why a real online reputation strategy creates enough high quality content to take up at least the first couple pages of results just as a starting point, and that online reputation work needs to be ongoing, spread across as many points as possible." -Alan Bleiweiss

 

Have you ever used social media to research the reputation of a company?
Graph 5 Phil Buckley

"Asking for recommendations across your social networks is the easiest way to research a decision you're faced with. "Can anyone recommend a good dentist in town?" or "Has anyone used Acme Car Service before?" will inevitably lead to a slew or responses about that company, but also recommendations about competitors that friends know, trust and like. Most people will trust the recommendation of their friends more than the marketing pitch on a website. 80% of people will check in with family or friends before pulling the trigger on a new purchase.
Having family and friends available 24/7 on your phone makes that a lot easier." -Phil Buckley

 

Which social media websites have you used to research the reputation of a company?
Graph 6 Tony N. Wright

"There are quite a few surprising results in this survey. I was surprised to see the high number of participants that have used Google Plus to research the reputation of a company. This shows the growing importance of different social channels, as well as the difficulty faced by companies through further fragmentation of the social landscaping. Competent review management is more important than ever." -Tony N. Wright

 

Which online review source/website do you trust the most?
Graph 7 Rhea Drysdale

"It was fascinating to me how many of the respondents trusted Google over other review sources (55%). The number of respondents who trusted review sites (88%) also seemed rather high given recent news about fraud on Yelp and other review sites. I know many companies will seek out marketers to help build fake positive reviews for themselves and negative reviews for competitors (which we don't engage in, but I find incredibly disheartening)." -Rhea Drysdale

 

Do you trust online review websites?
Graph 8 Andy Beal

"Anecdotally, we hear of numerous cases of online review fraud, yet this doesn't seem to concern the average online reviewer, with only 8% of consumers seldom, or never trusting online reviews." -Andy Beal

 

Does the company you work for have someone specifically assigned to handle online reputation management?
Graph 9 Matt Siltala

"I remember working with a company that tracked major losses from negative results above the break.  It ended up being almost 3 million in lost revenue for the year when the negative results were above the break (not even off the first page, just above the break) so business owners - WAKE UP and make sure your reputation and SERPs are clean.  If you continue to have problems with negative attacks you may want to work with a reputation and branding firm to help you fix the problem you have as a business too."  -Matt Siltala

 

Does the company you work for monitor online what's being said about them on a daily basis?
Graph 10 Andy Beal

"61% of businesses monitor their online reputation on a regular basis, which is a great improvement over recent years. However, with a plethora of affordable monitoring tools, there is no excuse for not monitoring your reputation on a daily basis." -Andy Beal


*Add this survey results to your blog or website using our graph! This graph was made in partnership with with the team at Avalaunch Media who specialize in infographic marketing.

 

Online Reputation Tips from the Experts:

 

Andy Beal

Andy Beal

CEO, Trackur

Twitter: @AndyBeal

 

"Not surprisingly, my top advice for any small business is to monitor your reputation on a daily basis. Even if you decide not to interact with your customers, social media monitoring provides an affordable means of market research to improve your products, service, and reputation." -Andy Beal

 

Rhea Drysdale

Rhea Drysdale

CEO, Outspoken Media

Twitter: @Rhea

"My top tip for small businesses is to be pro-active in managing their online reputation. So few businesses take the time to invest in their online presence, because they're too busy running their business. I get it! I'm a small business owner as well, but so many ORM problems can be avoided by simply having an online presence with accurate contact information on each profile and a way to get notified of comments or reviews. When a concerned customer doesn't get through to you via your phone number or email address, they're left with no choice, but to publish their review online. Don't let them escalate to this point and make sure you have all of your accounts claimed on the major review and social sites to help monitor and respond to mentions. The simple act of registering these will also help sculpt a small business' reputation in the search results." -Rhea Drysdale

 

Matt Siltala

Matt Siltala

President, Avalaunch Media

Twitter: @Matt_Siltala

"The best advice I can give them is to monitor their brand.  If you are worried about not having money to do this, there are several free options, but also several affordable options that give you amazing features (like Trackur.com for example) Even at the very worst if you can set up Google Alerts for your full domain name and brand ie "http://www.brand.com" and "Brand" even maybe some other variations too, but do your best to make sure and monitor what people are saying about you and squash anything before it becomes a big deal.  

Most people just want to know that you heard them.  Once you let them know you have and take care of their problem, they move on ... they don't continue to try to ruin you.   If you are not monitoring this though, there may be stuff going on that you have no idea (discussions in forums for example) where people are bashing you and you could have put an end to it before it ever even got started by addressing the problem." -Matt Siltala

 

Alan Bleiweiss

Alan Bleiweiss

Forensic SEO Consultant, AlanBleiweiss.com

Twitter: @AlanBleiweiss

"My top online reputation tip would be that you need to understand the only right way to handle online reputation is through proactive efforts and that all your efforts need to avoid short-cut solutions.   Too many companies pay agencies who then go out and create a sea of noise, just so they can fill results cheaply.  The critical flaw in that methodology is you end up causing people to find that noise, which does NOT help your reputation.  In fact, people see right through the tactic, and then identify your company as being even more questionable as far as trust and respect go." -Alan Bleiweiss

 

Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone

Vice President of Strategy, Overit

Twitter: @LisaBarone

"Start a blog! By attaching a blog to your business you create a source for continuous content, a media asset that you own, and establish an official hub for your brand on the Web. The more quality content you create, the more of an authority you'll become, and the more your content will appear in the SERPs (displacing content you *don't* want to appear)." -Lisa Barone

 

Phil Buckley

Phil Buckley

Director of SEO, Virante

Twitter: @1918

"With the adoption of schema.org meta data, reviews are becoming more prominent in the search results. You don't even have to click through to see more about a company that only has 1 out of 5 stars - you just skip over them.

Review sites like Yelp have been a game changer for businesses that were good at marketing, but not so great at their core business. With more people everyday having instant access to reviews right on their mobile device there is literally no place left to hide for businesses giving bad service.

Our parents talked about local businesses over the back fence, now people share the same information over Twitter and Facebook. What used to be a pain in the neck, like writing a letter to the Better Business Bureau, is now trivial work online.

My best tip for any business revolves around the democratization of attention. Last generation, the TV news had your attention when they sent a crew into your business. Before that it was the investigative reported from the big city paper. Now you have no idea of the reach of the guy who walks in your front door. Online reputation fiascoes that start spinning can pick up speed at an alarming rate. The web is filled with brilliant minds that love to dig into businesses that mistreat customers and get caught. SO the advice is - stop. If you did something dumb, admit it and apologize. The worst thing you can do is to dig in your heels and take on the entire world because you're not
going to win.

If you did nothing wrong... stop and apologize. Nothing diffuses a situation faster than admitting you made a mistake and that you want to make things right." -Phil Buckley

 

Krista Neher

Krista Neher

CEO, Boot Camp Digital

Twitter: @KristaNeher

"Too many businesses ignore review sites until they have a problem and don't have a strategy to build positive reviews organically over time.  If you have no reviews on a review site, one negative post will break you.  If you cultivate positive reviews and already have even just a handful of positive reviews online the one negative post will turn your 5 star rating into a 4.5 star rating.  Create a strategy whereby you specifically ask satisfied customers to share their experience on an online review site and create follow-up processes that ask for these reviews.  Focus your energy on the specific review sites that matter most to your business.  For example a restaurant may focus on Yelp while a plumber may focus on Angie's List.

If you have mostly positive reviews, don't worry too much about the negative one, but respond if you can.  In most cases people don't expect you to be perfect, but they do expect you to care and fix things when you screw up.  Use negative reviews as an opportunity to show that you aren't OK with a less than perfect experience.

The bottom line is that reviews online from third party websites like Yelp and Google are extremely important in shaping how people view your business and whether or not they decide to do business with you.  Even in the B-to-B space reviews and testimonials can make all the difference for decision-makers." -Krista Neher

 

Chris Countey

Chris Countey

Director of Consulting Services, Webimax

Twitter: @chriscountey

"The best recommendation I have for companies who are looking to improve their reputations online is to address any issues they have offline first. Unless a competitor is outright attacking you online, chances are your online reputation blemishes are the result of dissatisfied clients with real concerns. Addressing those concerns openly by making real changes to make customers exceptionally happy with you is the best way to begin seeing long-term improvement on and offline, and encourage reviews and feedback often.

Additionally, make sure your business and your employees are involved in your community. Become a thought leader, host events, give to charity, do something that extends beyond the walls of your own business. Good news makes for great content and has just as much chance to make it online as bad news." -Chris Countey

 

Tony N. Wright

Tony N. Wright

CEO, WrightIMC

Twitter: @tonynwright

"Work to obtain positive reviews. Positive reviews en masse can mitigate the damage of a few negative reviews. A dedicated reviews management program is a must for almost any company, even if they have no negative reviews...yet." -Tony N. Wright

 

Stuart McHenry

Stuart McHenry

President, McKremie

Twitter: @smindsrt

"Being proactive and establishing online reputation policies is the first place to start.  Simply being active and addressing concerns can go a long way in a consumers mind.  The old saying that “the average unhappy customer will tell ten people about the poor service” just doesn’t apply to these days.  In today’s online world that customer can post a review that will be seen by hundreds or thousands of people, not just ten.

One of the best ways to help control the information people find about you is by creating content.  Use different platforms to distribute your content.  Blogs, social media, video and presentation sites like Slideshare are powerful websites that often dominate in the search results pages.  Claim your business profiles on as many of these sites as possible then develop a strategy around providing good content for each." -Stuart McHenry

 

Survey Respondents Data:

Total Respondents: Age: Education:
512 People 18% Age Group 18-29 2% Did has not finish high school
  20% Age Group 30-44 10% have graduated high school
Gender: 41% Age Group 45-60 31% Have some college
47% Female 21% Age Group 60+ 29% Have a college degree
53% Male   28% Have a graduate degree

 

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