An instant is all it takes to threaten your business's sterling reputation online. You might have had an off day or the misfortune of dealing with an ornery customer, but it's almost inevitable that you'll come face to face with a negative online review at some point in your career.
But, as Adrienne Weissman, CMO at G2 Crowd, recently pointed out, negative reviews aren't all bad. Some 70% of Americans read reviews before making a purchase, and those who seek out negative reviews tend to be more engaged and are 67% more likely to make a purchase. Plus, 68% of people trust a company more when their reviews are a mix of good and bad.
Of course, the key to making the best of a bad review lies largely in your response. That means you need to be able to find reviews (both good and bad) as they pop up. That's definitely more social media monitoring than one person can handle...
And that's where reputation management tools come in.
The following five reputation management tools are some of the best on the market for tracking mentions, discovering influencers, and managing online reviews as they happen.
1. Awario
When you can't have eyes and ears everywhere at once, Awario's the next best thing. This software features nonstop monitoring of important keywords across 13 billion Web pages, including every major social media platform. That means you're instantly tapped into the most important conversations about your brand, no matter where in the world they're taking place.
Awario's starter plan lets you track 50,000 mentions per month and gives you access to in-depth analytics that will help you identify key influencers so that you can expand your reach. The more robust plans give you extra features, including tracking for up to 500,000 mentions per month (enterprise plan) and the ability export your analytics for colleagues and clients (pro + enterprise plan).
Price: Starts at $19/month.
Free trial: Yes, you can try Awario's Starter plan free for 14 days.
2. Grade.us
Grade.us helps reviews work in your favor by making it easy for your satisfied customers to find and review your business. This software lets you easily target both positive and negative feedback across all major, minor, and industry-specific review sites.
What sets Grade.us apart is its intuitive "review funnel" system. Most of your happy customers don't leave you a review, but the review funnel encourages more positive feedback by making the review process painless.
The review funnel unobtrusively reminds your customers to review your services on the websites you care most about. It guides them through each step and lets them log in from their favorite social media platforms, removing the tedium of creating a new account. And, if a customer gives a negative review, you get instant feedback—meaning you can respond in a timely fashion, gaining a second chance at a good impression.
Price: Starts at $70/month (or $59/month if billed annually).
Free trial: Yes, you can use its Agency plan software (retail value $250/month) free for 30 days.
Review Trackers also shows you all of your customer reviews in one centralized dashboard. This software automatically tracks 50+ of the biggest review websites, including Yelp, Google, Facebook, Foursquare, and OpenTable. Best of all, it's been optimized for mobile so that you can see your new reviews on any platform, in real time.
Like the other platforms listed here, Review Trackers will send you email notifications whenever your brand's being mentioned, and it includes a reporting and analytics suite to help you hone your future brand-building. Review Trackers also integrates seamlessly with Hootsuite—making it an apt accompaniment to the software you may already rely on.
