What is the Difference Between Online Reviews and Reputation?
Does the cart go before the horse? Do we ready, fire, aim?
The online marketing axiom – people must know you, like you and trust you before they buy from you – is set in stone.
What is the difference between online reviews and reputation and how can you use them to get more sales?
Reviews are what people say about you publically. Be that in Google, Tripadvisor, Trustpilot, Facebook, Foursquare, Yelp or anywhere else.
Reviews are public endorsements and a proxy for recommendations from friends.
Set in stone because people will only spend money with people, brands and businesses they trust. So building trust with people is the bridge you must build. How to get people to trust you?
Online reviews and recommendations from your customers. Reviews from customers is a proxy for a recommendation.
You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do
Henry Ford
And reviews are the foundation of the bridge people use to cross the river of doubt about your brand.
Bridge the Gap of Trust
If people like you they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.
Zig Ziglar
The key to bridging the trust gap is online reviews and reputation.
On average, consumers read 10 reviews before buying. Which is why a positive reputation is so important.
Agilecrm
Don’t worry, I am Urban Renström, there is always science and research involved in everything I talk about, teach, and show.
Who’s on First? Reviews or Reputation?
It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things better
Warren Buffett
Let’s discuss a brand’s reputation.
Brand Reputation
Reputation is the public’s perception of your brand. Because the internet influences public perception, online reputation drives brand perception.
A brand’s reputation is past actions and an expectation that the future mirrors the past.
Reputation is the promise you make to the market.
Commsights.com say “Brand reputation is how a brand is seen by everyone else.“
On the balance sheet reputation is an intangible asset.
Or, reputation is also the way in which all the brand’s stakeholders, who know little about an organization’s true intent, determine whether an organization is worthy of their trust (Stigler, 1962).
Or, reputation is based on the organization’s behaviours, communications and relationships: Doorley and Garcia (2008:4).
What Drives a Brands Reputation?
It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.
Benjamin Franklin
Weber Shadwick state of corporate reputation 2020, Everything Matters Now report dove deep into the factors affecting a brand’s reputation. They asked people what areas were important. From most to least important:
- The quality of the product and service
- The quality of employees
- The quality of the customer care people
- Respect for customers’ and employees’ privacy
- The rate and quality of innovation
- Industry leadership
Allow me to translate the above: If your product or service does what it says on the tin, your clients facing employees are empathetic, have emotional intelligence, are helpful, the business invests in the development of its employees, improves and is an actual authority in the market then the reputation will be good.
If Who is on First. What is on Second? is it Online Reviews?
If reputation is the promise you make to the market and your reputation drives brand perception, then online reviews are how people express satisfaction with your brand.
Would you eat at this ‘Best Restaurant in Galway’ based on online reviews?
“Well done is better than well said.”
Benjamin Franklin- Poor Richards Alamac 1737
Why is it Important to Manage Reputations?
People use and trust online reviews!
People begin their search on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGO, when looking for products and services.
If people find >3.3 stars reviews they will ignore you.
FAQ – Difference Between Online Reviews and Reputation
Identity is the cause; the brand is the effect, and the strength of the former influences the strength of the latter.
Larry Ackerman
