Reputation is everything. It's make-or-break for your brand. Especially in the Internet era, when reputations can be easily built and ruined in mere seconds.

But how can you be sure that the brand you're building is the right one for your target audience? We've gathered the top industry-insider tips on B2B brand reputation management to help you access unrivaled growth and improve your online reputation.

Why Is Brand Reputation So Important for B2B Companies?

Reputation is the power that drives business development. A carefully constructed company image demands attention and outshines its competitors. But with the flood of digital information online, how can you ensure your business gets the attention it deserves?

It all starts with the first step in the marketing funnel: awareness. That is when your potential customers first learn about your company and its offerings.

Awareness can include the following:

• Your company's position in the market
• Client reviews
• Your social responsibility policies
• Trends

In today's highly competitive market, the first interaction matters. Potential clients will decide whether to proceed based on those few precious moments.

What Does Brand Reputation Management Mean for B2Bs, in Particular?

Brand reputation management isn't just for B2C companies. B2B brands often have to have more robust reputation management systems in place because spending is not an individual decision; it must be approved by a series of managers.

Bad reviews or incomplete information can count against you. Managing your reputation is at the heart of business success. But it doesn't happen to any company accidentally or on its own accord. It requires a lot of work and a solid, tested brand reputation management strategy.

What Channels Can My Business Use for Online Reputation Management?

These are the top online connection channels today:

• Social media. Just because many businesses may not officially allow their employees to use social media at work doesn't mean such channels don't influence decision-makers. Creating a distinctive voice and image of your company, advertising, and followers—AKA potential customers—helps solidify your brand image and build awareness. Social monitoring tools can help track the effectiveness of campaigns and establish user personas.
• SEO Web content. An optimized website is key to ensuring you gain the traffic you want and need. There is little point in ranking for something such as women's shoes when you want to be a leader in IT technology, so be careful that your keywords and SEO strategy support your brand to help you reach the top search engine positions.
• Outreach content. Working with other brands and partners can improve your reputation and trustworthiness. Get your brand out there with reliable partners. But, as always, check their online reputation first.
• Customer reviews. Genuine reviews build trust, which leads to sales. Over 92% of B2B buyers say trusted reviews are a factor that drives them to make a purchase. Quickly responding to positive and negative reviews shows you are active and interested in your clients and their satisfaction.
• Communication channels. Business is a fast-moving world, and your clients want results—and fast. Effective communication channels such as chatbots, forms, and forums connect your customers to your brand and form an integral part of online strategy.

Challenges of Online Brand Reputation Management

Many companies admit that online reputation management is their Achilles heel. It's time-consuming, it takes effort, and it involves a lot of hypothesizing. Especially if you're doing it manually.

That's why decision-makers often opt for automated online reputation management software. Such tools optimize the work of building brand reputation. They allow you to efficiently perform in-depth market research, complete social listening for PR or content generation, gather data on potential clients, and much more.

Top 7 Tips for Brand Reputation Management

1. Get high-quality content on your side

Going online and telling the world your brand exists isn't enough. To get your customers engaged, you need to deliver valuable content.

Some ideas:

• Sharing your expert opinion on the industry on your website blog
• Posting the latest news on discounts and new product lines
• Creating guest posts on industry journals

What's most important is that the content speak in your company's voice and work alongside a content strategy. Making a content plan isn't easy, and deciding which info will be the most useful for your customers is hard work. Social listening tools can help.

2. Establish a social media presence

Today, a website isn't enough for online reputation management. Companies are increasingly using social media platforms to further their brand's reach.

Find out which social media sites are the most popular among your competitors and potential customers. The simplest way to do that is to monitor social media using online reputation management software.

Online reputation management apps can monitor keywords across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, and other social media networks. You can then get insights into which social networks have the most mentions of your topics, and where your competitors have gained popularity among users.

But that's only the beginning. You'll need to level-up your social media strategy to be in line with your overall plans for your brand and in line with your company's voice to ensure consistent impact.

3. Track your company's mentions