In 2016, professor Michael Luca, from Harvard Business School, published an article on Online Reputation Management, where he compared the position of companies on the Yelp review site with the revenue generated over the years. The result showed that increasing 1 star on review sites can generate between a 5-9% increase in sales.
Increasingly relevant, Online Reputation Management is a fundamental sector for a company’s communication team. When we talk about Reputation Marketing, the main objective is to improve the reviews on websites and review apps, such as Tripadvisor, Google Business, Foursquare, Booking, etc.
Recent studies have shown that 90% of consumers research the reputation of a business before using it. They use both generic sites, such as Google and Facebook, but also industry-specific sites like TripAdvisor and GetApp.
That is, there is no point in doing a fantastic job in creating leads if it does not guarantee that the online reputation is positive. Michael Luca’s study found other important information: consumers prefer to buy from establishments with more reviews than from an establishment with few reviews, even if they are better.
Other studies reinforce these claims. 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. 72% guarantee that they will only purchase if they have seen positive reviews.
Online Reputation Management must be a rigorous component of the marketing strategy. The company must take the following steps to proactively manage its online reputation: