In this blog I explain what a business reputation audit consists of and its benefits for businesses and organizations.
Digital reputation is an important factor in the success of public facing organizations. Businesses with an effective reputation management schema can appeal to customers and shareholders alike, enabling them to win more sales and boost investor confidence.
In this blog I explain what a business reputation audit looks like and how it allows businesses to make more effective decisions.
What is a business reputation audit? What does it look like?
A business reputation audit provides a professional analysis of your company’s online presence as it relates to business performance. It is a report style document that communicates relevant data and information that can be used to make more informed branding decisions in the future.
A business reputation audit consists of findings and observations from five primary actions:
1. Search result analysis.
What does an individual user find when looking for your company on a particular search engine?
How can your company improve its search engine performance (SEO)?
2. Key audience identification.
Who are the groups that are most engaged with the brand?
When and where do customers connect with the business?
What demographics most contribute to the overall growth of the business?
3. News media search.
How is the company positioned in relation to its exposure in news media?
4. Social media analysis.
What is being said about the company?
Where and when is commentary most positive? Negative?
What is being said about competitors?
5. Review search.
What do customers say about your products or services?
How can you do better business in the future?
What works? What doesn’t?
These five tools are used to make up the majority of the reputation audit. The statistics and data from these actions are presented in a report and can be used to make inferences moving forward.
Some information found during a reputation audit can tell an obvious story. For example, the reviews relating to the delivery time of a commercial shipping service. The positive and negative reviews will illustrate exactly what customers like or don’t like about the current delivery time.
Other information may not be as obvious and may be better used in conjunction with other findings to draw conclusions such as how a certain demographic feels about the company compared to its competitors.
Why should a company conduct a reputation audit?
The ability for decision makers to understand their positioning in the market is fundamental to making effective brand-related decisions. Having an idea of how a specific audience will react in a particular situation as it relates to your business is a necessary component to achieving the best possible results. A business reputation audit can use social listening tools to gauge both the positive and negative responses in relation to a brand and its competitors.
For example, if a clothing company was interested in rebranding, the social media commentary on similar rebranding moves by competitors would provide useful information on how the public would perceive the move. If a direct competitor recently took a similar strategy, the brand mentions following that move would provide useful insight on how the company may be positioned.
The audit also gives businesses actionable suggestions and detailed explanations of where they can better utilize their digital resources; (i.e. How can your company better communicate with its audiences using social media accounts or website activity?)
All in all, the majority of successful business leaders would agree the more information you have, the better off you will be when making decisions. A business reputation audit is directed at doing just that—providing useful, data-driven information to inform decision makers and anticipate results.
How can we help?
Inquisitive Intel offers businesses a fast-tracked reputation audit that is best utilized as a tool for evaluating current digital activity. Our reputation management team uses social listening tools and manual online investigation techniques to give you actionable suggestions on how to improve your communications strategy.
The data and observations we provide are compiled into a report and presented in an easy-to-understand fashion. Our reputation management team can further support the audit findings by creating and executing both short and long-term digital communications strategies.
Reach out to myself today to learn more about the Business Reputation Audit and how it can help your company moving forward.
Comments