The mainstay of building a respected brand on the web is online reputation management.
In today’s tech-driven marketplace, an established, well-maintained web presence continues to be a significant driving force for real estate investors, as a positive online profile can produce a profusion of benefits like new contacts, relationships, leads, referrals and sales. While nothing has the power to vitalize a business quite like a dominant online reputation, if not properly regulated it can become a brand’s undoing.
As a real estate professional, maintaining your digital reputation is equally as important as building it.
Online Reputation Management
Online reputation management (ORM) has become a prerequisite for today’s investor. Brand identity has always held a lot of weight in the business world, but never has it been more evident than in real estate. Because the majority fail to adequately monitor and maintain their online presence, resulting in untold damages to both their public image and bottom line.
For real estate professionals, the basis of online reputation management entails three components: customer review, social media and SEO. These individual elements represent a commonplace for past, present and future customers to preview your brand. To better manage your digital footprint, here are the following that you should know:
Manage Online Reviews: What people say about a brand online is a focal point for many businesses, and for good reason. Studies show that nine in ten consumers will read online reviews to determine the quality of a local business, with 39 percent doing so on a regular basis. In fact, 85 percent of consumers will read up to 10 online reviews for one business. For agents, online reviews have not only become more impactful in terms of having an effect on a business, but their importance has become a keystone in online branding.
Along with regularly managing online reviews, agents will also need to follow up on feedback. This business management practice will include reaching out to the customer to resolve a complaint or following up to thank them for their response. Either way, online reviews need to be managed carefully and swiftly.
Monitor Social Media: While Facebook and Twitter continue to become a dominant force in online marketing, social media sites can also be a trap for bad publicity. The uninhibited atmosphere of social media can create a dangerous setting for online reputations, as it provides an open and real-time platform for users to voice their displeasure. That said, social media monitoring should be implemented on a continual basis to ensure negative reviews and comments are dismissed right away.
Update SEO: One of the harder parts of online reputation management is search engine optimization, also known as SEO. This factor is especially important for real estate investors, as potential customers can search your name to reveal positive, negative or false information about you. Developing a prestigious online reputation requires a significant investment of both time and money, and SEO is a component real estate professionals should concentrate on.
Real estate branding is a two way street: Agents must not only strive to build their reputation, but manage it as well. Because an agent’s reputation online can grow like wildfire if not properly maintained, the need for supervision is apparent. If you need to manage your digital footprint, we at Ubertor can help.