With millions of brands all over the world, it can be difficult to find which ones you want to support.
Besides the quality of products and policies, consumers have also begun to consider a company’s overall reputation before a purchase, which includes how it sources its products, how it treats its workers, and the advocacies it supports.
While in some cases, the points in bad reviews raised are legitimate issues that should be addressed, it can also just be a case of miscommunication, competitor attacks, or even tagging the wrong business.
For this reason, it’s important to utilize reputation management tools, which can help business owners and marketers navigate the volatile landscape of the internet.
In this article, we will discuss why reputation management tools matter and some of the best free tools available to help you manage your brand’s online reputation.
What are reputation management tools?
No company is immune to negative reviews online. Even the biggest and most well-meaning brands in the world can have customers who post scathing reviews on Yelp, TripAdvisor, or other websites.
However, negative reviews can make the most significant difference for smaller businesses that have fewer supporters and a shorter history of delivering good work.
Reputation management tools are software that helps you track, monitor, and respond to online reviews. From social listening tools to review management platforms, these tools are essential because they help you keep track of your brand’s online presence and manage your reputation in the digital space.
But what makes reputation management so critical for brands?
Why are reputation management tools important?
Reviews are an essential aspect of building legitimacy as a brand. Whether it’s from your past or present employees, new or old customers, people rely on these reviews to determine whether a brand is worth supporting or not.
With thousands of competitors in the world, a great review can be the one thing that convinces a customer or future employee to choose you. In some cases, a bad review on social media can even be better than no review because it helps manage the expectations that a prospective customer has of your brand.
While you can’t control everything that is said about your brand online, you can take steps to proactively manage its image across platforms. Additionally, from a monitoring standpoint, reputation management tools also help determine whether your influencer marketing campaigns on social media are effective.
What are some of the best free reputation management tools available?
There are a number of reputation management tools available online. If you’re still confused as to which ones are worth the money, here are some of the best ones which you can use for free forever or for a limited time.
Get More Reviews
Get More Reviews is a software platform that helps businesses track, manage, and improve their online reputations. It does this by collecting customer feedback from across the web and providing businesses with the tools they need to respond to negative reviews quickly, track their brand reputation over time, and identify areas for improvement.
With its integration with Zapier, Get More Reviews also provides businesses with actionable insights to help them cultivate better customer relationships and improve their overall business performance.
Overall, Get More Reviews is an excellent tool for businesses that want to improve their online reputations. By monitoring feedback and addressing negative reviews head-on, businesses can turn around their reputations and see a corresponding increase in sales and customer loyalty.
Price: 14-Day Free trial available | $99 per month (cancel anytime, no contract or setup fees)
Google Alerts
One of the most popular reputation management tools is Google Alerts. Google Alerts allows you to monitor the web for certain keywords. Whenever these keywords are mentioned, you can choose to receive these alerts via email or RSS feed.
You can use Google Alerts to track mentions of your brand, product, or service online. For example, you can set up an alert for the name of the campaign that you are running to see the sentiment of those who have seen it.
Since this service is completely free, it is highly recommended to have Google Alerts on for things like your company name, tagline, and other relevant campaigns.
Price: Free
Rankur
Rankur is a tool that helps you track, measure, and analyze your website’s search engine ranking. It provides detailed reports and graphs, so you can see how your site is performing over time.
Available in over 53 languages in 252 countries, Rankur also allows you to compare your site’s ranking to that of your competitors worldwide. This can be helpful in determining where you need to improve your SEO efforts.
For example, Rankur can track your site’s search engine ranking for specific keywords. This can help you identify any negative sentiment towards your brand and take corrective action.
Lastly, Rankur can keep track of your progress over time, so you can see the positive impact of your reputation management efforts.
Price: Free | Starts at $24 per month for paid plans.
Hootsuite Insights
Known as one of the best social listening tools out there, Hootsuite Insights helps brands gather intel about what customers are saying across social media platforms. Using keywords, mentions, and hashtags, Hootsuite Insights allows you to track, measure, and analyze your brand’s social media presence.
With Hootsuite Insights, you can see how your brand is performing on social media, what kind of content is resonating with your audience, and more. You can even integrate it with its social media management features, so you can quickly respond to reviews.
By quickly responding to negative reviews, you can manage the number of viewers that have seen it without your response. Alternatively, you can also thank any person who has taken the time out of their day to say good things about your products of services.
Price: Free 30-day trial | Starts at $49 per month for annual payments.
Mention
Mention is a tool that helps with reputation management by allowing users to track what is being said about them online. It can be used to monitor your brand, track competitor mentions, and more.
On Mention, users can view a variety of analytics and insights about their online reputation. For example, Mention lets users access social media insights which includes which channels are generating the most mentions, what type of content is being shared, top influencers, and how positive or negative sentiment is around your brand online.
Price: Free | Starts at $29 per month for paid plans.
What other steps can you take to protect your brand’s online reputation?
In addition to using reputation management tools, there are several other steps you can take to protect your brand’s online reputation. Here are some of them:
- Creating a social media policy for your employees
- Regularly monitoring your brand’s online presence
- Responding quickly and professionally to negative reviews
- Encouraging customers to leave positive reviews
By taking these steps, you can proactively manage your brand’s online reputation and protect your business from the damaging effects of negative reviews.
Keep Your Brand’s Name Respected
In today’s digital age, it’s more important than ever to take steps to protect your brand online. While you can’t please everyone, it’s important to take steps to protect your brand’s online reputation.
These are just a few of the many free tools available to help you protect your brand’s online reputation. No business is perfect, but being respectful and responsive makes a big difference.
While no one is immune to a bad review, by taking proactive steps, you can minimize the damage and ensure that your brand’s online reputation remains intact.
If your situation is more of a crisis – check out these 5 simple steps to improve your reputation.
