Ah yes, reputation management - the realm where public relationships (PR) and marketing come together to create a better, stronger brand reputation. To make sure you are in control of your reputation 24/7, we've curated for you the best reputation management software.
For decades, companies depended on their clients' personal experience to build a reputation. With the rise of the internet and online services, the variety of marketing and branding opportunities is exponentially growing.
Companies can now monitor all web-based channels and social platforms, listen to their consumers' needs, and create long-term reputation strategies.
Using reputation management software not only helps prevent low reputation scores but also offers valuable customer insights that will guarantee to improve your online reputation.
Here is what we will be talking about later in this article:
- Top 7 best Reputation Management Software
- How to Choose the Best Reputation Management for Your Business
- What Is Reputation Management
- 5 Reasons why Reputation Management Is a Must
- Why Invest in Reputation Management Software
- Best Reputation Management Practices for a Successful Online Reputation in 2022
Top 7 Best Reputation Management Software
Here is the truth - there are many fishes in this pond. Each of them talks to its users in a way that the others can’t. This is why we've tried to present a variety of reputation management software platforms, to create a more niched environment.
BrandMentions
BrandMentions is an online reputation management tool that combines social listening and brand monitoring to track mentions and reviews about brands, businesses, and individuals from any website or social media platform.
Beside valuable customer insights and campaign metrics, BrandMentions presents two valuable assets. The Reviews integration feature and the Sentiment Analysis feature.
The Sentiment Analysis feature allows you to feel the pulse or the overall sentiment of all your brand’s mentions.
The white labeling option is specially created for marketers who offer brand monitoring and reputation management services. They can send custom reports to their clients that feel and look more personal and professional.
Reputation
Reputation tackles reviews, surveys, and business listings.
The American review platform was founded in 2013, in Silicon Valley.
A cool feature that this platform has is the proprietary Reputation Score that gives users insights into where their business is winning and where it’s falling short.
Reputation offers solutions for industries in the Automotive, Retail, Healthcare, Property Management, and Hospitality niche.
BirdEye
BirdEye is a platform focused on tracking local businesses.
It collects reviews, referrals, and surveys and offers insights on them.
BirdEye can be integrated with your existing customer support ticket system.
BirdEye offers solutions for industries in the Healthcare, Real Estate, Financial Services, Legal, Automotive, Retail, Hospitality, Insurance, and Personal Services niche.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is focused on social media management and content scheduling but it also offers reviews from Meta, GMB, and TripAdvisor.
The social media management tool has been around since 2010, with the goal to improve customer care.
Sprout Social is designed to help businesses from the Travel and Hospitality, Computer and Software, Retail, and Higher Education industries.
Swell
Swell is a reputation management software that enables businesses to gather real-time feedback, online reviews, and customer satisfaction surveys.
Swell offers automated messages to schedule appointments, send quick surveys, or request contactless payment.
It also brings together all online communication channels to a single inbox, for businesses to respond directly to their customers.
DJUBO StarSight
Djubo is a fully integrated product suite that covers operations, distribution, marketing, and Intelligence for the Hotel Hospitality industry.
From property management to centralized reservation systems, to online reputation and review management, Djubo is all about enhancing online experiences in the hospitality businesses
Ideal for multilocation businesses.
Chatmeter
Chatmeter is an online reputation software aimed at local markets and businesses.
The company started in 2009 as a monthly email report service.
Today, Chatmeter offers brand reputation and listing management solutions for small companies and business chains with multiple locations.
Chatmeter offers review management, social media management, and local SEO tracking.
How to Choose the Best Reputation Management Software for Your Business
With so many options available, choosing the best reputation management software for your business is not a walk in the park.
Before buying a new suit, you must know your size.
It is mandatory for you to know what your company’s needs and goals are. After establishing that, take your time doing your software market research.
Whether you are a small or big company, or a digital marketing agency that offers reputation management services to multiple clients, here is what you should take into consideration:
- Industry Niche and Business Size
Some platforms are best fitted for big brand monitoring while other platforms provide services aimed at local, small businesses. Carefully take into consideration each platform’s focus and industry niche. Not every software speaks to the same audience.
- Review Monitoring
We can not talk about reputation management without review monitoring.
Business owners should regularly check for reviews and mentions across their social media profiles.
Platforms like BrandMentions deliver all your reviews to your inbox in real-time.
You can even customize your alert, to get notified only when specific conditions are met (negative feedback, increased spike in reviews, etc.)
- Mention Monitoring
A mention is a reference to someone or something (brand, business, topic, person, etc.)
Managing brand reputation means always being aware of who talks about you and what. By doing so, you get the power to understand and protect your reputation in a fiercely competitive market.
If you think your brand is susceptible to being mentioned in various online discussions, finding software that offers the mention monitoring feature is lifesaving.
- Social media monitoring
If your company is present on social media, this one is a must. Social media monitoring not only helps with reputation management but also helps brands stay on top of trends, connect with their audience better and create more consumer-oriented content.
- Software training and setup help
While trying to decide which platform suits your company’s needs better, take into consideration the platforms’ availability for a beginner training session and further assistance with the project setup.
Sometimes a reputation management software needs a little bit of time to get the hang of it and a little bit of help is welcomed.
- Budget
Last but not least, budget is something you can not ignore.
Thoughtfully consider the reputation management budget as a long-term investment in your company’s health.
Most platforms offer monthly subscriptions or yearly packages.
BrandMentions’s plans vary from 99$ starting price to 499$ depending on the company size and needs, offering custom subscription plans for brands that need a personalized package.
After having analyzed all these factors, review all the platforms carefully and choose the one that aligns best with your requirements.
What Is Reputation Management
Reputation management is the practice of influencing, controlling, or modifying the public perception and conversations about an organization or brand.
When talking about Online Reputation Management (ORM), the same general process applies to the digital presence of the organization or brand.
This means that reputation management is focused on monitoring social media and web presence, keeping tabs on all conversations around the subject of interest and sometimes even the industry niche it belongs to.
5 Reasons Why Reputation Management Is a Must
There are enough reasons to put Reputation management at the top of the marketing strategies list.
Here are the most important ones:
1. You can increase your brand’s online presence by discovering more opportunities to create relevant content.
Positive reviews are the best social proof you can use and social media reviews can represent top-notch user-generated content material.
2. You can monitor online conversations and overall feelings around your brand.
Before deciding on any direction in which to go when it comes to marketing strategies, monitoring and analyzing are the first steps any marketer should take.
3. You can take your business to the next level.
Maybe you are struggling to grow your business or you have hit a plateau. Leveraging reputation management will show you exactly where your brand is having trouble and why it is stagnating.
4. You can establish your brand in the top search results of the search engines.
If you own a local brand with a physical reputation, you surely have a Google My Business Profile. Being aware of all your reviews and handling them in real-time will increase your chances of visibility. A clean business reputation does wonders to the local search SEO.
5. You can establish stronger, more trustworthy relationships with your audience.
In 2022 social marketing has never been stronger. Addressing customer issues head-on and replying to customers on different social media channels rests at the basis of a strong online community.
Why Invest in Reputation Management Software
A capable reputation management platform not only offers the opportunity to be aware of what people think about your brand through customers feedback but will also offer many more beneficial features like:
- brand monitoring tools
- in-depth reporting and analytics
- real-time alerts delivered in your inbox
- the possibility to generate reports with custom insights
- a quick way to respond to negative comments and feedback through the reputation management platform
Best Reputation Management Practices for a Successful Online Reputation in 2022
If you want your company to be part of the top performers in its niche, follow these simple practices:
- Make sure that any level of contact with which customers interact is clean and reflects your company’s values. From social media content to call to action to landing pages and customer service, try to be as impeccable as possible.
- Always keep an eye on reviews and comments on social media sites.
- Don’t ignore what your customers are saying. Listen to them and let them know you are there for them.
- Maintain business transparency. Never delete negative comments or reviews. That would be like gaslighting customer experiences.
- Ease your work, save time and protect your energy by using marketing automation tools, task management technologies, and automated brand monitoring software.
An efficient reputation management software suited for the brand’s characteristics can help maximize revenue. The company can use reviews, comments, and client feedback to its advantage. You can find out how to do so here.
Choosing the best reputation management software depends on the unique needs of the company.