In recent years, online reputation has been the key factor service providers leverage for closing multiple clients. 

A recent survey by Luisa Zhou revealed that 95% of consumers read online reviews before buying a product, and about 74% of these consumers say positive reviews increase their trust in a brand. 

Likewise, for agencies, reviews and comments have gradually become important elements that shape how the public (especially prospective clients) view and accept an agency. 

So, if you run an agency, it is high time you started considering managing a positive online reputation as one of your most important goals. 

Online reputation management starts with monitoring site reviews, understanding clients’ sentiments, and addressing any issues without wasting time. 

To many agencies, the task of closing a client and delivering a top-notch job, coupled with monitoring and maintaining a positive online reputation, might seem like having a finger in far too many pies. After all, it’s best to not spread oneself too thin.

However, with the right online reputation management software and strategies, you will surely find it easy to achieve. 

In this blog post, we will explore effective strategies to enhance your online reputation. We’ll also highlight essential tools that can save you time, effort, and money in the process.

Why You Should Work Your Agency’s Online Reputation

When clients search online for an agency, one of, if not the first, things they are likely to do is check the agency's online reputation. This includes reading online reviews, checking social media pages, or looking at blog posts or articles. 

It should be no surprise that the survey by Luisa Zhou also reveals that about 89% of clients make an effort to read reviews before they partner with an agency. 

This means that clients form opinions before they make any move to partner with any agency. A poor online reputation can turn away clients who are ready to partner with you. 

Since most clients start their decisions on which agency to partner with online, having positive reviews might just be the most important thing you need to be the top choice of many potential clients. 

To achieve the goal of becoming the top choice for potential clients, online reputation management might be the essential service your agency needs. 

Online reputation management does not only involve managing your online reputation but also influencing and improving how your agency is perceived by clients online. 

A strong and positive online reputation can help you build trust with potential clients, partners, and even employees. 

A positive online reputation can:

Improve First Impressions

In the past, first impressions were formed during a face-to-face meeting or phone call.

But today, clients don't need a physical meeting with any of your team members. All they do is check your agency online and assess your reputation based on the experiences of past clients through reviews and other feedback before deciding to partner with you. 

Online reputation management plays a crucial role in shaping how your agency is perceived. Whether positive or negative, your online reputation can either make or break the trust of potential clients. 

Influence a Client’s Partnering Decision

An overwhelming majority of consumers will choose not to partner with an agency if there are no reviews available. This shows that most clients rely heavily on online reviews to make decisions on which agency to partner with. Positive online reviews management can help you build credibility. 

Give You Control Over Your Brand Narrative 

Online reputation management allows you to shape and control the narrative around your brand. By actively managing what is being said about your brand, you can ensure that positive and accurate information is provided online. 

Can Affect Revenue

There is a direct link between an agency's reputation and its revenue. With a positive online reputation, you can attract more clients and retain them for long. 

As an agency, you should be well aware that your online reputation precedes your brand. Nowadays, nearly all clients are seeking to hire an agency they can trust. The funny thing is, none of these clients will come to you directly to inquire how good you are in the services you offer. 

They all turn to reviews on social media, search engines, etc. Since you only have control over how to respond to reviews from clients and not what they say. Then you do not have the capability to promote your brand to potential customers through word of mouth. 

It is your online reputation that will do this. Monitoring, managing, and taking charge of your online reputation can have a great impact on your business. In fact, when you have a strong online presence, you might just be halfway close to gaining more clients.

All these and more can be achieved by implementing the right online reputation management strategies.

10 Proven Reputation Management Strategies for Marketing Agencies

Here are some proven strategies for effective reputation management.

Strategy #1: Monitor Online Reviews and Mentions

As an agency, it is important that you actively monitor online reviews and mentions of your company across various online platforms. 

Online reviews serve as social proof for potential clients. You should encourage clients to leave reviews on popular platforms like Google, Yelp, Facebook, and Trustpilot. 

This will help you establish credibility. Encouraging reviews is not enough; you must also manage them by responding to reviews, both positive and negative. This will demonstrate engagement and willingness to address clients’ concerns. A survey reveals that 63.3% of consumers never receive a response after leaving a review, yet 53.3% expect a reply from brands or agencies within a week. This gap presents a significant opportunity for businesses to engage with customers and improve their reputation by simply responding to reviews, which can dramatically influence customer perceptions and strengthen relationships.

Once you start online reviews management, here are some steps you can take afterwards:

• Respond to Reviews: Make it a priority to respond to all client reviews, whether positive or negative. Thank clients for their positive feedback and address any concerns in negative reviews, reassuring them that steps will be taken to prevent the issue from recurring. Responding can significantly impact consumer perceptions, with 56% of customers changing their view of a business based on how it handles reviews.

• Address Issues Privately: If a negative review raises an issue you were not aware of, be sure to reach out to the client privately to inquire and gain a better understanding of their concerns.. 

• Flag Inappropriate Reviews: If you happen to come across any fake or irrational reviews about your agency, report them to the platform so they can be removed immediately. 

• Engage on Social Media: If anyone mentions your agency name on any social media platform, such as Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), etc., engage actively with them. 

These can help you build trust and show that you really care about your clients’ feedback. They also shape how your agency will be perceived by potential clients. Reputation monitoring should be an important part of your client’s success workflow. 

Strategy #2: Ask Your Clients for Reviews

While it is important to monitor reviews passively, you would also ask satisfied clients to leave reviews online after every service offered. Positive reviews from these clients can boost your online reputation. This might be easier than you think. A survey by BrightLocal reveals that 69% of consumers will leave a review if prompted.

Here are tips you can use to ask for clients’ feedback:

• Request for Reviews Respectfully: When asking for reviews, do not make it mandatory. Make requests at appropriate times, thank them for their business, and ask them to share their experiences working with your agency. 

• Offer Incentives: The BrightLocal survey also demonstrates just how effective incentivization is for effective review generation. You can offer your clients a discount on future work if they post positive reviews about your brand. Avoid offering large payments as an incentive for reviews; they can make your agency seem vulnerable and undermine authenticity. 

• Ask via Email: Email is consistently the best method to reach out after a review. After completing any client's project, send a follow-up email to thank the client. You can also share links to Google My Business, Trustpilot, etc, and provide a template for positive reviews. 

Strategy #3: Optimize Your Profiles for Search Engines

You should ensure that your website and online profiles are well-optimized for search engines. When potential clients search for an agency online, they tend to focus more on the offerings of the agencies that appear at the top of the list. 

To achieve this, use search engine optimization (SEO), which includes creating high-quality content, using relevant keywords, and building backlinks from reputable sources. Effective online reputation management is crucial here, as it enhances your credibility, thereby boosting you in the rankings,

Strategy #4: Claim and Complete Your Google Business Profile 

According to BrightLocal, Google is the top site for sourcing reviews, with 81% of consumers using it. It’s crucial to have a complete and up-to-date Google My Business profile because Google displays these profiles in search results and on maps. An incomplete profile can lower your agency's visibility and reduce your chances of being discovered online. 

Claim your business on Google as a first step. You can do this by: 

• Searching for your agency name on Google Maps. 

• If it shows up, click on “Claim This Business”. 

• Enter the address you have registered with the local authority. 

• Provide some ownership documents like invoices, licenses, etc. 

After claiming your business, the next step is to complete your profile. 

• Upload high-quality photos of your agency. 

• Add detailed services offering with description. 

• Add your operating hours, payment methods, and contact details. 

• Link to your website and provide relevant social media profiles. 

• Categorize your agency properly under the appropriate industry. 

• Maintain key information like address, and contact details and review them from time to time. 

• Publish your services, deals, and packages to attract more clients. 

• Monitor your profile regularly. 

It is important to check your Google My Business profile regularly through online reviews management. Respond to all clients’ queries and comments on time. Check that your brand's information, images, and links are all up-to-date. This will keep your agency visible on Google searches. 

Strategy #5: Build Quality Backlinks 

Building relevant backlinks from high-quality sites is an important part of search engine optimization and online reputation management as proper linking builds organic online visibility. 

To build quality backlinks, you have to follow some basic steps:

• Guest Post: Reach out to popular industry blogs and websites and offer to write 500+ word guest posts about your area of specialization. To improve domain authority, you need to make sure that the blog is valuable to its readers. 

• Citation: Get listed on relevant online directories like Google My Business, Foursquare, Yellow Pages, etc, and maintain up-to-date profiles across sources to pass link equity. 

• Social signal: Share your quality blog content across multiple social platforms and engage with influencers in your field. 

• Content Repurposing: You can take existing long-form content and break it into a visual format (infographic), case studies, etc., to publish on other sites with attribution links. 

The goal of this strategy is to create helpful and quality content. 

Strategy #6: Ensure Positive Social Media Engagement 

With the rise of social media, platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram have become important channels you can use to build your reputation online. 

Here are effective ways you can conduct reputation monitoring on these sites:

• Post Valuable Content: Share industry updates, tips, case studies, and other helpful content on social channels. This can establish your agency as a thought leader and enhance your image. 

• Engage with Clients: Pay attention to queries from clients and reply appropriately. Thank loyal ones publicly and have conversations with unsatisfied ones to solve issues. 

• Ranking Hashtags: Research top-ranking and relevant hashtags and include them in your post to attract new clients.

• Social Media Advertising: Promote top posts with paid social media ads to boost their reach and exposure. 

• Analyze Insights Regularly: Take control of reviewing engagement metrics, follower growth, and demographic data through a robust online reputation management strategy to refine your social media based on feedback. 

Consistent posting of valuable and visually appealing content is one of the important factors that can influence success across major social networks. 

Strategy #7: Optimize Your Website for User Experience 

Having your website well-designed and fully optimized is an important strategy in online reputation management. Clients and search engines form perceptions based on your website's usability, load speed, and content quality. 

You can optimize your website for user experience in the following ways:

• Website Speed Optimizationsome text
  • Minimize your page size by optimizing images, script, and page elements.
  • Leverage browser caching for static files.
  • Accelerate database searches and decrease server response times. 
  • Leverage a CDN to improve asset delivery speed. 

• Content Optimizationsome text
  • Publish rich and original content about your services. 
  • Target relevant industry and location-specific keywords. 
  • Optimize pages with proper keyword density and contextual links. 
  • Add alt text descriptions to every image that is utilized. 

• User Experience Designsome text
  • Follow web design best practices for effective navigation. 
  • Create an intuitive information architecture and labeling. 
  • Use big visible calls-to-action buttons appropriately. 
  • Optimize pages for responsive mobile friendliness. 
  • Add necessary accessibility features like alt text. 

• Website Securitysome text
  • Update all plugins, themes, and dependencies regularly. 
  • Use tools like SiteChecker to perform security audits. 
  • Monitor logins for harmful bot traffic and block bad IPs. 
  • Remove unnecessary login portals and sensitive data

When you focus on overall user experience, you can be sure to boost your web presence and engagement with time. 

Strategy #8: Optimize Local Listings 

As an agency, one of the most effective and often overlooked aspects of online reputation management is optimizing your local listings. 

If you are an agency that serves clients within a specific geographic region, local listing serves as a critical touch point between you and your clients. 

These listings appear on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, and other directories, significantly influencing your online reputation and presence. 

Optimizing your local listings is important as it can increase visibility in local searches, enhance credibility and trust, and also improve clients’ engagement. 

You can optimize your local listing by claiming and verifying listings on all relevant platforms, ensuring consistent and correct name, address, and phone number, and using high-quality photos and videos. 

Optimizing your local listings can help your agency improve well on its search ranking, increase traffic, and give you a competitive advantage over others in the industry. 

Strategy #9: Gather and Address Online Reviews 

Online reviews have become a power factor that influences the perception of your agency. Most clients rely on these reviews to assess the credibility, reliability, and effectiveness of your agency before deciding to partner with you. 

This is why gathering and addressing online reviews is a critical part of your online reputation management strategy. 

Effective online reviews management will not only strengthen your presence but also build long-lasting client relationships. 

Online reviews offer a window into customer experience, allowing potential clients to analyze the quality of services your agency provides. 

Reputation monitoring and managing online reviews are two sides of the same coin. Monitoring reviews allows you to keep track of your client’s sentiment and manage your public image in real-time. 

Strategy #10: Leverage a Review Management Software 

One effective strategy for managing your online presence is using review management software. The task of reputation management has grown complex, which is why you need an efficient tool that can help monitor, gather, and respond to clients’ feedback. 

Review management software offers a streamlined solution that enables you to take control of your online review management and build a positive reputation across multiple platforms. 

They are designed to automate and centralize the tasks associated with online reviews, to make it easier for you to engage with your audience. 

The software can be set to automatically send your clients an email or SMS to drop reviews after every project, saving time that will be wasted if done manually. When implementing this management software, you should be sure to choose the right software based on your specific needs. 

Reputation management is not a one-time task. It is a gradual process that requires vigilance, consistency, and a proactive approach. To maintain a strong online presence, you should monitor, encourage, and address both positive and negative feedback from clients. 

Top ORM Platforms

Reputation management requires a step-by-step process. Many agencies view it as challenging and cumbersome, but it is not as difficult as it seems. When you leverage the right tools, the process becomes much easier and more straightforward

Here are some online reputation management platforms that you can partner with to achieve the best results:

1. Synup 

Synup is an online reputation management software that can help you manage your online presence and online reviews. As an important part of a digital marketing strategy, online reputation management aims to monitor, maintain, and improve your online presence and credibility. 

With Synup you can easily keep track of reviews from sites like Google, Yellow Pages, Facebook, and more, all from one dashboard. 

The software uses artificial intelligence to help you respond to clients’ reviews with personalized messages, making your interactions more engaging and thoughtful. 

Synup can also help you run targeted campaigns to encourage satisfied clients to leave positive reviews, which can boost your online credibility. 

Synup also offers comprehensive reputation monitoring across multiple platforms, allowing you to stay updated on what clients say about your agency and respond quickly when necessary. 

Key Features 

• Can schedule and monitor posts across social media platforms. 

• Uses AI to generate engaging captions and posts. 58% of consumers indicated that they preferred a review response crafted by generative AI.

• Can run personalized campaigns to generate reviews. 

• Combines with marketing automation, CRM, and other tools. 

• AI can auto-respond to clients' reviews. 

• Can track reviews across sites like Google, Facebook, and Yelp using reviews management software. 

Benefits 

• Saves time by automating responses to clients’ feedback. 

• Provides a comprehensive solution that covers listings, social media, and reviews—all from one dashboard. 

• Can boost online reputation by requesting and addressing customer feedback. 

• Improves the outcome of marketing through elaborated analytical data in the campaign. 

• Synup can help you get more positive reviews and recommendations when you run such targeted campaigns. 

 2. GatherUp 

GatherUp is an online reputation management platform that is designed to help you with all tasks related to reputation monitoring. It enables you to track, submit, and answer reviews from several sites. 

On GatherUp, you will have access to rich information and the opportunity to customize performance reports. You can use these reports for analysis and to determine what improvements can be made. 

GatherUp uses AI-generated responses to maintain consistent and appropriate conversations with your clients. The platform also helps automate the creation and response to reviews, allowing you to manage your reputation with minimal effort. 

Key Features 

• Can track reviews on more than 100+ platforms, including Google My Business, Facebook, Trustpilot, etc. 

• It leverages the use of artificial intelligence to provide customized replies. 

• Posts clients’ reviews as a response on the website to increase SEO and customers’ trust. 

• It can help you communicate with your customers directly either by sending them direct sms or sending them auto emails. 

• It can track the response rate and can easily automate the process of sending the requests for review. 

Benefits 

• GatherUp can send customized SMS engagement to your clients which can help optimize communication across channels. 

• With its AI functionality, the software personalized responses to clients’ queries to maintain consistency and maximize positive reviews. 

• Provides actionable insight to promote customer experience. 

• GatherUp provides comprehensive analytics and performance tracking. 

• The online reputation management software can automate review requests which can help you boost your online presence and your agency's awareness. 

3. Vendasta 

Vendasta is reputation monitoring software that provides you with all the tools and services you need to manage your online reputation effectively. 

Vendasta is an all-in-one platform. Through its dashboard, you can centrally monitor your online reputation across multiple review sites and online listings for comprehensive reputation monitoring. 

You can track reviews from sources like Google, Facebook, and other third-party review sites. The platform offers AI-powered tools that can help you to gain valuable insights from customers’ reviews and feedback. 

By partnering with Vendasta, you can automate review requests and monitor response rates. Vendasta also possesses white-label functionality, which can equip you to offer your clients online reputation management under your agency name. 

The platform provides you with centralized, easy-to-use tools to take control of your online presence and enhance your reputation. 

Key Features 

• Provides reputation monitoring on online sources like search engines, review sites, etc. 

• Offers white-label services. 

Benefits 

• Vendasta can help you save time by consolidating your reputation tracking in one place. 

• The platform will provide strategic recommendations to enhance clients' experience. 

• You can maximize positive feedback with AI.

• Vendasta can optimize communication with your clients across channels through customized SMS. 

• With its white-label functionalities, you can offer your clients services pertaining to online reputation management. 

4. Birdeye 

Birdeye is an online reputation management platform that can help you manage, monitor, and improve your online reputation. 

Through its centralized dashboard, you can monitor your online reputation across numerous online review sites, business listings, social profiles, and websites. 

Birdeye utilizes AI-powered tools to track reviews, ratings, clients’ feelings, and feedback expressed on various digital channels. The platform can help you streamline the online review management process with its automated review request feature and response tracking capabilities. 

Through Birdeye's analysis, you can gain deep insight into clients' feedback. These insights will help you identify reputation issues and suitable strategies to adopt to adjust them. 

The platform has a detailed business profile, which can help you better understand your online presence from clients' perspectives. 

Key Features 

• Birdeye gives insight into top reviewers and aspects. 

• Makes use of AI to provide analysis of clients’ reviews, feedback, and online conversation. 

• Can automate review requests and response tracking capabilities for a streamlined process. 

• Has white label functionality. 

• Manages reviews from several sources from one dashboard. 

Benefits 

• Birdeye provides real-time reports that can lead to informed decision-making from trend insights. 

• Birdeye combines with third-party systems to simplify operations through unified workflows. 

• With insight provided by its AI, you can strategize and think of better ways to improve. 

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Summing Up

All in all, reputation management has become an important factor in search rankings. To attract and hold on to your clients, you need to manage your reputation wisely.

You must follow strategies to achieve your main goal: ranking high in search results and attracting more potential clients.

Implementing the right strategies can help you consistently monitor, address, and improve your online presence. From reputation monitoring and asking clients for reviews to optimizing local listings, building quality backlinks, and leveraging online reputation management software, you can stay ahead of your competitors.

Using online reputation management software like Synup can evolve the process. These tools offer features such as tracking reputation across multiple sites, AI assistance for generating review responses and providing insights, centralized reporting, and more. This can help you elevate your online reputation to new heights.

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10 Types of Reputation Management Strategies You Should Implement: FAQs

Can online reputation management help reduce cost acquisition? 

Yes, online reputation management can reduce client acquisition costs. A strong and positive online presence can undoubtedly build trust and credibility, decreasing the need for expensive marketing. 

When you have high ratings and a high number of positive reviews, your credibility will increase. This will make it easier for you to convert prospects into clients, thereby lowering the cost of acquisition. 

When is the best time to reach out to clients for reviews and feedback? 

The best time to reach a client for review and feedback is shortly after a positive interaction or after the completion of a project or service. This ensures that the experience is fresh in their minds, increasing the likelihood of receiving detailed and favorable feedback. 

How often should I monitor my online reputation? 

You should monitor your online reputation regularly, on a daily or weekly basis. Regular and consistent monitoring allows you to notice and address negative reviews quickly, respond to client's concerns, and maintain a positive image. 

What type of content works best for building links? 

When building links, use high-quality and valuable content like in-depth blog posts, research studies, and infographics. Content that offers unique insights, solves problems or provides useful resources can encourage other sites to link back, boosting your site's authority and improving search engine ranking.