Although “e-reputation” may seem an overused term, it simply refers to the way in which a person, brand or company is perceived on the Internet.
Just as our reputation will influence the behavior of people around us, e-reputation will greatly influence the image that Internet users will have of a brand selling in e-commerce.
It therefore has enormous implications for brands selling online!
So let’s take a look at how to effectively manage your e-reputation to optimize your visibility and e-commerce results.

E-reputation: essential to a company’s long-term survival

The e-reputation of a company, brand or individual directly affects its visibility on the web.
And therefore the way in which it can influence and convert an audience.
It’s an element that must be taken into account at all costs if you want to do business on the Internet, especially over the long term.

Brands made and unmade at lightning speed through e-reputation

We often hear that sociological phenomena that have always been present are amplified and accelerated in a frightening way as soon as they arrive on the Internet.
Rarely has this been truer than in the case of reputation.

Between social networks, blogs, comments and Google reviews, every move made by a company or public figure is constantly scrutinized.
Subjected to the judgment of Internet users and debated in all directions.
In this context, it’s easy to imagine how quickly a brand can become famous through a video or even a simple tweet… But also how a misplaced action or comment can destroy the e-reputation of both fledgling and well-known brands.

To take the example of a flesh-and-blood personality, it took a single tweet from J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter saga, to transform her from beloved youth icon to transphobic reactionary in the eyes of millions.

Learning how to manage your e-reputation effectively is therefore an issue of the utmost importance.
Particularly for young brands that have neither the resources nor the experience to survive a “bad buzz” (not everyone is Nike or Apple).
But the important thing to remember is that while it’s possible to acquire a bad e-reputation in the blink of an eye, it’s also possible to create a good one (almost) as quickly.

A carefully planned e-reputation

With a general decline in corporate e-reputation due to a gradual loss of trust among Internet users, it’s urgent for brands to learn how to control their own.

Just like a marketing strategy (with which it shares many similarities), e-reputation can be planned, worked on and measured.
In this respect, it is similar to “branding”, a discipline which consists in attributing a personality to a brand or a public figure, through storytelling, values or specific visual codes (Apple’s minimalism, amazon’s yellow, Rolex’s “bling-bling” etc.).

Improving your e-reputation with a view to creating a community and finding customers therefore requires you to define a narrative, codes and, above all, offers in line with a precise vision.
To do this, you need a clear strategy that addresses concepts such as social proof, authoritative status and ethics.

The roadmap to a solid e-reputation for your e-commerce store

No, knowing how to manage your e-reputation effectively isn’t just a handful of yellow stars on Google.
It’s built through everything that represents a brand, what it says, what it offers and even the ideology it supports.

Social proof

First contact between an e-commerce store and the general public.
Social proof is what shows potential customers that what they’re about to buy (or any commitment they’re about to make) has already been “validated” by general opinion.
This most often takes the form of ratings (the famous 5-star rating found on many e-commerce sites) or written testimonials.

This form of e-reputation, which could be described as basic, is essential for any serious e-commerce site today.
So it’s a good idea to make sure that your e-commerce store has such a feature.

This first social proof, while necessary, is easy to counterfeit and often not enough to stand out and build a real e-reputation over the long term.
To this end, acquiring authority status on the subject related to your offering is an excellent strategy.
This is particularly true for digital service offers, training content or any other business model that involves building a “community”.

A good way to create a status of authority, which will enable an audience to see you as THE reference in your field of interest, is to keep a blog.
But it’s also a good idea to generate links to authoritative websites, or even better, to get them to talk about our business (for free or for a fee!).

What’s more, it can give your website greater visibility thanks to SEO.

Work on your corporate ethics

Ethics, in the broadest sense of the word, doesn’t just mean caring about the environment or denouncing the working conditions of third-world workers.
These latter examples are just one of many.

In the context of a for-profit organization, this term actually refers to all the values and directions taken by a brand, company or public entity.
And which define its personality.
A bit like a political party, a brand’s ethos aims to unite a certain kind of audience over the long term.
If we take the automotive industry as an example, Volvo and Ferrari won’t appeal to the same audience at all.
The two brands have different ethics, and this is reflected both in their offerings and in the way they communicate.

To build a lasting e-reputation, it’s important to clearly define the ethics you want your brand to uphold.
What values do you wish to emphasize?
For what type of person?
At the same time, you must be careful not to be too opportunistic, trying to appropriate an ethic without any real conviction of applying its principles.
Such is the case with “greenwashing”, where companies ride the wave of ecology without actually integrating it into their production cycles.

Rigor, strategy + a few tools: the secrets of a solid e-reputation

Today, knowing how to effectively manage your e-reputation for your e-commerce store is more a matter of necessity than choice.
At least if you want to build a brand that lasts over the long term.
Far from being a matter of chance, e-reputation is something you have to work at, throughout the life of your brand, through convincing social proof and an ever-stronger status of authority.

In addition to the principles outlined above, there are other tools you can use to optimize your online reputation, such as hiring a community manager when your community becomes large enough.
Or regularly monitoring your e-reputation, so you always know where you stand in terms of your online reputation.

As an e-commerce expert with over 15 years’ experience on Prestashop, don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have about creating your online store, boosting your e-reputation or developing your own brand on the web!