As an industry, marketing almost never stays static. With each passing minute comes a new brand that needs its brand, products, and reputation to get a boost.
While some marketing fundamentals remain consistent, the industry as a whole is competitive and dynamic. Businesses that want to thrive must build a brand that carries an aura of trust and excellence to make their mark. This includes your very own marketing agency. As you help other firms with their reputation, you need to pay attention to yours, too. In other words, reputation marketing is for you, also.
How can you stay on top of your own reputation? By establishing your credibility as a dynamic and robust marketing leader. Remember, customers always buy from people they trust instead of people they don’t. If you think about it, trust is usually a better predictor of sales than price.
People work with marketing agencies that have proven their potential in the past and carry a set of loyal and happy customers. They spread the word about your brand, and this direct communication can make or break your future in the industry. Most of this initial trust gets built with ratings and reviews from past clients. This forms an image and reputation of your brand on a larger scale.
If you haven’t thought about your own agency’s reputation, or need a refresher, here are some changes you can make immediately to give your reputation a boost:
- Clear Communication
Even though this might sound obvious, clear communication requires a good amount of effort and insight.
Communicating with your client maintains transparency and allows them to be a part of the entire process. This fills the communication gap and leaves less space for misunderstandings. Conduct prompt communication, and ensure that you have written records of the finalized contract, client requirements, and budget. These minute details allow you to stay away from disputes and safeguard your brand from unethical parties.
Clear communication also facilitates a better brand-client relationship and increases client loyalty. When your old customers are happy with your communication, they tend to be more respectful towards the final results and look up to your brand as a trusted solution. This fosters a positive impact, and you can expect to get more clients with the reference of your old ones.
- Offer Discounts
Marketing brands are field experts when it comes to detecting the current trends of the industry. You can use this research to your advantage and come up with discount plans that extend a gesture of goodwill and appreciation to your clients. This makes them feel valued. After all, what could be better than offering discounts for excellent, professional marketing services? This combination encourages your clients to give positive reviews to your agency and, in turn, elevates your overall market rating.
- Run a Referral Program
Referral programs are a brilliant way of growing a network of reliable clients who will get more customers by sharing their experiences with your brand. Be it social media posts, blogs, YouTube, or word-of-mouth marketing, you can incentivize your existing clients to refer your services in their network. With every successful client they convert, you can provide them with benefits and special packages.
- Provide Revisions
Quality work is an essential factor that will help you get good reviews and establish a better reputation in the market. However, high-quality work should not be the end of your efforts. At times, even excellent work might not meet your client's expectations.
Marketing is a creative field and as a result, incorporates a great deal of subjectivity. This subjectivity might at times lead to client dissatisfaction. In such scenarios, you must maintain a professional outlook, and inquire about the revisions and improvements required.
Most of the time, it’s wise to provide revisions, corrections, or improvements when faced with an unhappy client. Failing to do so could result in a rift between your client and your brand.
When customers notice the efforts on your part and the attention you pay to their feedback, they’ll often change their negative review into a positive one. Some extra effort on your part can lead to numerous more orders, new clients, and better ratings for your marketing agency.
- Provide a Simple Client Interface
Your client reviews allow more brands to get in touch with you and partake in your services. But positive client reviews on your email, text, or call might not be visible to your potential clients. It is, therefore, a great idea to form an integrated space for all your client reviews.
Maintain a system to get feedback, document those reviews, and present them in a professional format. There is a possibility your review system might not be convenient enough for your clients. This often decreases their engagement, and they avoid putting in extra effort to rate or review their experience.
To prevent this, form a client interface or a mechanism that is easy to use and does not consume extra time or labor. Using a Google Doc, or asking for recommendations on LinkedIn can both be good strategies to gather reviews in an organized way. These reviews can then be showcased on your company website.
Client reviews matter because they help your potential clients and audience get an overview of your brand. Investing your time and efforts in building a loyal and positive client-brand relationship will help you establish a strong reputation in the market to attract more customers.
Further Reading: Selling Reputation Management and Marketing Services to Clients
