Digital marketing, including ORM, can no longer be put on the side burner when it comes to an organization’s long-term sustainability. Whether you are a B2B or B2C firm, your digital footprint can have a monumental impact on your bottom line. Here are five ways you can protect your reputation and garner financial freedom.
1) Streamline the whole customer experience. Company’s omni-channel strategies should not be forgotten when constructing an inviting digital interface for potential and current customers. Consistency is key and should be maintained across all platforms so as to avoid confusion. For instance, you don’t want your sales force to be known for their high responsiveness rate and expert service while online inquiries go unnoticed.
2) Determine your digital objectives. Don’t neglect the user friendliness of your digital interface, along with how the platform can be integrated into the rest of the customer experience.
3) Only make promises on what you can deliver. Understanding the psychographics of your customers can be tough, however the knowledge rendered by knowing what your customer expects will allow you to effectively communicate your offerings. The last thing you want to do is disappoint your customer, thus leading to high dissatisfaction rates and a trail of bad online reviews. Whether you own a mom and pop shop, a restaurant or a spa-customers will search about you beforehand and compare you to the competition in your area before making a proper decision. Most won’t think twice about visiting your establishment if they see a star rating fewer than three. Your main goal should be to over exceed expectations every single time you have another customer touch-point with your potential or current customer.
4) Dust off the microscope. Ethnographic research is an effective method to gaining extra insight into your customer’s attitudes and behaviours. The time and money invested into this research is worth it can result in a complete shift in the way you market your offerings, thus skyrocketing revenue.
5) Always Be Transparent. If you’re collecting customer data, let your customers know. It’s that simple, and trust us, a simple message can save you hundreds of headaches. It’s easy for customers to take their customer service issues to Facebook and Twitter, in which the electronic word-of-mouth quickly spreads. Be proactive and let your customers in on your potnetially questionable practices and policies.