As Yelp, one of the largest consumer review websites, aims to go public within the next year, reputation management has come into the spotlight. Now a crucial part of any business, little is known about the nuts and bolts of what reputation management truly involves.

Reputation Management Has Evolved
Maintaining a strong reputation for a business before the digital age was simple – strong work and good products would gain a loyal following; profits would grow as word of mouth spread. Then, within the last decade, consumer review websites began popping up all over the internet.

The idea was a shrewd one: provide an open forum in which average consumers could provide candid, unbiased feedback about their experience with a particular company or product. The sites became almost instant successes.

Now 86% of consumers surveyed report doing online research before making a purchase.

But high-profile review scandals at Amazon, Travelocity, and even Yelp have highlighted the intrinsic problems with this set-up.

Businesses began providing incentives – discounts, free products, and even cash – to customers who gave the company glowing reviews. Some even instructed employees to pose as customers and post phony reviews online, while others went so far as to hire “reputation management” services to do it for them.

Even worse, competitors would blanket a rival’s review page with numerous negative comments in order to gain an advantage.

Yelp has been accused of re-posting or extending the life of negative reviews if a company doesn’t pay to advertise on their site. Appliance manufacturer DeLonghi came under fire in 2009 for allegedly having employees post 5-star reviews on Amazon for company products. And most recently, some New York and New Jersey car dealerships have been accused of trying to cover up poor customer service records by flooding auto dealer review sites with phony raves.

What Honest Reputation Management Really Is
Given how routine dishonest practices have become, it’s natural to assume that reputation management is a dubious procedure which involves generating fake reviews while burying ones that are authentic yet negative. But true digital media professionals know there is a forthright and beneficial way to help clients maintain a positive reputation.

At our firm, we stay away from the “dark side” of reputation management and find ethical ways to enhance a company image.

What We Practice at MediaRevo

• We give happy customers a voice. All the advertising in the world doesn’t carry the weight of a genuine rave from a satisfied customer. We make sure those customers have as many opportunities as possible to share their experience with others.

• We respond proactively to negative reviews. If a customer is unhappy and doesn’t feel they were heard, we work with them on behalf of the client to come to a resolution. Everyone walks away satisfied and the company’s image remains intact.

• We reach out to every source. Yelp, Google Places, Superpages, Angie’s List, Insider Pages, Yahoo Local – these are just some of the hundreds of forums which exist in order to help consumers make decisions. We keep up-to-date on the inner workings of all the most popular websites to keep clients ahead of the competition.

• We follow up with consumers. Once customers have been surveyed privately by a company, they may not go on to share their experiences on public sites. We encourage them to share with prospective buyers what they’ve already told the company.

To find out more, check out our reputation management page or contact us.