Online Reputation of a brand is more important than Lead Generation

For Ritesh, Director, 45ISPL, a brand’s online reputation is a must. When multiple brands are trying to sell products to the same set of audiences, the audiences would prefer that brand that is comparatively known and rated higher than the others.

This coronavirus pandemic has imposed a behavioral change on everyone, be it individuals, the government, or the business houses. Everyone is now trying to adjust to the new rules. For business houses, in particular, the situation is even more challenging. How and whom to sell products when there are no markets and no customers. And thus, everything is slowly shifting to online. Be it small, medium, or large, businesses are shifting their operations online. This has brought an all-new set of opportunities for digital marketing agencies that provide such services to their clients.

We are talking to one such company, 45ISPL whose Co-Founder and Director, Mr. Ritesh Mathur shares some interesting insights as to how a brand should utilize this adverse situation to strengthen its image in the market. A Digital Marketing expert and an experienced Brand Consultant, Ritesh can directly be contacted at ritesh@45ispl.com. Here are the excerpts of the conversation.

What changes this coronavirus pandemic has brought to the business and economy?

Well, it has turned everything upside down, to say the least. It has forced companies to reform their strategies. It has asked them to look for options to operate online, completely. Indeed, you have your employees working from home, and you have your customers purchasing from home. Only the manufacturing and delivery is happening on-ground. So yes, it has completely changed the way companies used to operate.

Being a digital marketing agency, you see it as an opportunity?

To some extent, yes, it is an opportunity. We help companies operate online; especially the micro, small and medium enterprises who find it difficult to manage everything on their own when it comes to shifting business online. Right from developing the online platforms for them to popularizing them and then bringing customers to boosts their sales, we provide every solution.

What is that one aspect where you feel you add value to your client’s businesses?

We help them connect to the right audiences at the lowest possible expense. See, when you are dealing with your customers face to face, you come to know them, know their tastes, likes and dislikes, and preferences. But the scene has changed. Now you deal with your customers virtually. So, it is very important for a brand to know the customers and their behavior. We help them know their customers, who they are, where they are, their psychology through their digital footprints, through process, preferences, desires, and aspirations. We also analyze the media consumption patterns, and other relevant aspects for a brand to create strategies.

How a brand can retain its customers, knowing the fact that they operate in a very tough competitive market and they only know their customers virtually?

Well, this is a very important challenge that every brand faces. In a real market, you and your customers know each other personally. However, in the virtual market, you are just a brand name and there are many such names that are offering similar products at the same cost to the same customer. The only differentiator for a brand in an online space is its reputation, i.e., how its customers have reviewed it, how the media has written about it, is there any negative story behind the brand, is there any controversy behind the brand, etc. Therefore, it becomes very important for a brand to manage its online reputation as this is one of the important aspects to have returning customers.

What is more important for a brand – lead generation or online reputation?

Let me give you some insights. As per the latest data from Qualtrics, a leading experiential data company, 93% of customers read online reviews before buying a product. Nearly all consumers (97%) use online media when researching products or services in their local area. This means your positive online reputation is a must to have. Coming to Lead Generation campaigns, these are run on a specific set of keywords on certain search engines and social platforms.

Eventually, almost all the companies are running similar campaigns to lure the same set of audiences. Therefore, there is always a risk of the duplicity of leads, i.e., the same data is available to multiple brands. So, the story comes back to the same point. When multiple brands are trying to sell products to the same set of audiences, the audiences would prefer that brand that is comparatively known and rated higher than the others. Therefore, for me, online reputation always comes ahead of lead generation. If you have a positive reputation, you might get organic leads as well.

One piece of advice to brands who are shifting their businesses online.

Well, starting a business needs courage, sustaining a business needs effort, and growing a business needs investment done in the right direction to reach more and more customers who generate sales for your business, regularly.

So, investing in digital marketing is vital to scale up your business. And as you are an expert in your domain so are we for digital marketing. We know the checkboxes of setting up the business online, and how to tick them. So, hire a digital marketing agency like us who can help you establish your business online and bring customers to you. Let us help you build your online reputation. For more information Visit: https://45ispl.com/