How do you balance brand reputation and SEO when dealing with negative reviews or feedback online?

The most important reason why businesses should monitor online presence, mentions, and comments is not to "defend" themselves from potential "negative" feedback but to learn what is the VOC. The Voice Of the Customer informs business and marketing teams how the products/services are being perceived. Positioning strategy, messaging, copy, product variations can be greatly modified once VOC is properly incorporated. Yes, finding "negative" feedback online should be dealt with and never ignored. But companies need to realize that it's 2023 already. We are not here to convince but to reveal. We are not here to defend ourselves from but to work and create with our customers.

Balancing brand reputation and SEO when dealing with negative reviews or feedback online requires a strategic and proactive approach. Here are some key steps to effectively address negative feedback and maintain a positive brand image: 1. Monitor online reviews and feedback regularly. 2. Respond promptly and professionally. 3. Address the specific issue. 4. Offer a solution or compensation. 5. Encourage positive reviews. 6. Learn from negative feedback. 7. Use SEO to address common complaints. 8. Engage with positive reviews. 9. Use social media to showcase positive customer experiences. By following these steps, you can demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction, address negative feedback promptly and professionally.

Move offline. Lead with an apology. "I'm so sorry your experience with our company did not meet your expectations. May we contact you to correct the issue? Our goal is to make every customer a happy one." Next ask : "How can we make this right?" Often the responses vary and it's worth knowing what corrective action turns a dissatisfied customer into a brand fan. Follow Through: Take the action requested. Issue a refund or discount on next purchase. Addressing unhappy customer immediately and often at an expense prevent damage to brand reputation that can dilute the many positive reviews and introduce an element of risk for the customer considering purchase.

People want to be heard. People want to feel they belong. People want to buy but not be sold to. Responding promptly and professionally is part of being empathetic. To make people feel heard, companies, managers, or marketing teams need to be empathetic. To be empathetic one needs to be human and vulnerable. It is not possible to be truly empathetic while trying to be efficient. Empathy is not about frameworks. Always responding with an apology may come across as fake or scripted. One of the challenges at companies today is to either hire more emotionally intelligent employees or properly train the current ones so they have the right mindset and tools. Giving teams and employees templates shows focus on efficiency. Choose wisely.

Some customers love your products or services so much they will find ways to leave online testimonials, positive reviews, etc anywhere they can. Those are not the majority. It's more than fine to offer satisfied customers something in return for the time it took them to leave a review. But, I don't think it's a good idea to focus on positive reviews as a strategy to "balance" or offset the negative ones. The focus should be on displaying reality as accurate as possible. Why? Because people want real, authentic, relatable, approachable. They follow, like, and buy that. We should all stop obsessing so much with showing perfection and start obsessing with truer connections.