9 Tools for Tracking Online Reviews and Managing Brand Reputation

Ever wondered how top industry leaders keep their finger on the pulse of their brand reputation? In this insightful Q&A, hear from a CMO and a CEO as they share their go-to tools for tracking online reviews. Discover why one expert swears by Hootsuite and why another relies on Yelp among the 9 total strategies discussed. Get ready to elevate your brand monitoring game with these expert insights!

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Maximize Resources With Hootsuite

I’ve tried a bunch of social media-management tools, but Hootsuite really stands out for a lot of reasons. One of my favorite features is the content overview through streams. It makes keeping tabs on multiple platforms and accounts super easy. I can see everything—scheduled posts, mentions, engagement—all in one spot.

Hootsuite also lets us maximize our resources. With the Hootsuite app, multiple users can manage our social media accounts from their phones, computers, or tablets, no matter where they are! It’s been a fantastic investment for our team.

Another cool thing is the competitive overview. Hootsuite gives me clear insights into how my content stacks up against the competition, which helps me stay ahead of the game and tweak my strategy as needed.

And let’s talk about the analytics—they’re top-notch! The data Hootsuite provides is comprehensive yet easy to understand, making it simple to make smart decisions about our social media profiles. I’ve often felt frustrated with other tools that just don’t deliver, but Hootsuite has consistently impressed me with its reliability, flexibility, and depth of features.

Kate Dzhevaga, CMO, Head of Growth, SYMVOLT

Monitor Reviews With Google My Business

I use Google My Business to track our online reviews and manage our brand reputation effectively. This tool allows me to monitor reviews from Google Search and Google Maps in one centralized location. It’s straightforward to use and provides real-time notifications whenever a new review is posted. This makes it easy to respond promptly, whether the feedback is positive or needs addressing. By staying on top of our reviews, I ensure that our customers feel valued and heard, which helps build trust and loyalty.

Google My Business offers valuable insights into how customers are finding our platform and what they are saying about us. The analytics feature helps me understand trends in customer feedback and identify areas where we can improve our services. I recommend Google My Business because it seamlessly integrates with our online presence and provides comprehensive tools to manage our reputation without being overwhelming. 

Keeping a close watch on our reviews through this tool has been crucial in maintaining a positive image and attracting more homeowners to our platform. It’s rewarding to see how actively managing our online reputation contributes to the growth and success of our business.

Robert Roth, CEO, Quote For Solar Group

Combine Free And Paid Tools

In the digital age, online reviews play a crucial role in shaping consumer perceptions and purchasing decisions. The most effective reputation-management strategies combine both free and paid tools. Free tools like Google Alerts and native social media analytics offer basic monitoring that helps businesses stay aware of online conversations. However, for deeper analysis, paid platforms provide actionable insights into customer sentiment, competitive positioning, and industry trends.

I use a mix of free tools (Google Alerts, native social media analytics) and paid tools (Brandwatch) for their exhaustive listening and comprehensible insights, but brands shouldn’t rely solely on paid tools. Many of the best insights come from direct engagement in online communities where unfiltered, authentic conversations happen. Paid tools may offer a broad overview, but the real gold lies in participating in these conversations to understand customer needs and pain points in real-time.

Abhilasha Joshi, Community Manager, Dog with Blog

Aggregate Reviews With Reputation.com

We use a tool called Reputation.com to track online reviews and manage our brand reputation. This platform offers a comprehensive suite of features that make it easy to monitor and respond to reviews across multiple channels, which is crucial for maintaining a positive brand image.

One of the reasons I recommend Reputation.com is its ability to aggregate reviews from a wide range of platforms into a single, easy-to-navigate dashboard. This saves time and ensures that no feedback goes unnoticed, allowing us to respond promptly to both positive and negative reviews. The tool also provides sentiment analysis, which gives us insights into overall customer perceptions and helps identify trends or areas for improvement.

Additionally, Reputation.com offers robust reporting features that allow us to track changes in our brand reputation over time. This data is invaluable for making informed decisions about how to enhance our services and customer interactions. By effectively managing our online presence, we can reinforce trust with clients and continually improve our offerings based on real customer feedback.

Overall, this tool has been instrumental in helping us maintain transparency and engage proactively with our audience, which is essential in building and sustaining a strong, positive brand reputation in the digital space.

Josh Matthews, Director, LogicLeap

Track Mentions With Brand24

I use Brand24 to track online reviews and manage brand reputation. It’s a powerful tool that provides real-time insights by monitoring mentions across social media, news sites, blogs, and more. I recommend it because it allows us to catch potential PR issues early and engage with customers directly.

For instance, while working on a project for a healthcare startup, Brand24 helped us identify a negative-sentiment trend before it grew into a larger issue. We quickly addressed the concerns, which not only improved customer trust but also strengthened the brand’s reputation.

I find that combining these insights with our in-house expertise on customer-connection strategies improves our brand storytelling. By analyzing data from tools like Brand24 alongside our behavioral science approach, we provide a comprehensive branding strategy that deeply resonates with audiences.

Milan Kordestani, CEO, Ankord Media

Monitor Feedback With BirdEye

In my experience, tracking online reviews and brand reputation is best done with BirdEye. This tool allows us to monitor customer feedback across multiple review sites in real-time, which is vital for maintaining a positive brand image. We’ve leveraged BirdEye to respond swiftly to reviews, turning potential crises into opportunities for customer engagement.

I once worked with a client whose local SEO was significantly boosted by actively managing their Google My Business reviews through BirdEye. After implementing a systematic approach to addressing feedback, their local search rankings improved, leading to a 35% increase in foot traffic over six months.

The automatic alerts and detailed analytics of BirdEye help in understanding customer sentiment quickly, enabling businesses to adapt their strategies efficiently. This proactive approach to review management has been a game-changer in achieving sustained growth and customer loyalty for both our agency and our clients.

Kerry Anderson, Co-Founder, RankingCo

Use Google Alerts And ReviewTrackers

As someone who runs a travel blog and an education company, I often rely on Google Alerts, combined with ReviewTrackers, to effectively monitor online reviews and brand reputation. Google Alerts keeps me updated when my brands are mentioned across the web, allowing me to stay proactive. Meanwhile, ReviewTrackers compiles reviews from various sites into a single dashboard, making it easier for me to analyze feedback trends efficiently.

For example, when I launched a post on best gifts for travelers, I closely observed how readers interacted with the content and brand mentions via these tools. This approach not only helped me refine my content strategy by addressing common feedback, but also allowed me to build a stronger connection with my audience by quickly responding to their needs and questions.

Integrating these tools has been crucial for my work, especially in consistently delivering valuable content that meets the audience’s evolving preferences. Staying on top of feedback helps me tweak my strategy, ensuring the brand resonates with travelers and educators alike. This proactive feedback loop has been vital to maintaining a positive brand image and building trust within my community.

Gabrielle Reese  VT, Travel Consultant, Versed Traveler

Build Trust With Trustpilot

As the marketing director for our guitar-parts e-commerce store, we use Trustpilot to track online reviews and manage our brand reputation. I recommend it for several reasons:

• Customer trust: Trustpilot is widely recognized, which adds credibility to our reviews and boosts customer confidence.
  
• Easy integration: We’ve seamlessly integrated Trustpilot with our e-commerce platform, automating review requests after purchases.
  
• Response management: The platform allows us to respond to reviews directly, showing our engagement with customer feedback.
  
• Analytics dashboard: We can track our overall rating, review volume, and trends over time, helping us identify areas for improvement.
  
• Review widgets: We’ve added Trustpilot widgets to our website, showcasing real-time reviews and boosting conversion rates.
  
• Multi-language support: This is helpful as we cater to guitar enthusiasts worldwide.
  
• SEO benefits: Trustpilot reviews contribute to our search-engine visibility, driving more organic traffic.

Trustpilot has been invaluable in building trust with our guitar-loving customers. In our niche market, where product quality and customer experience are crucial, having a transparent review system has significantly improved our brand reputation and sales. It’s helped us strike the right chord with our audience, turning customers into brand advocates.

Xin Zhang, Marketing Director, Guyker

Track Reviews With Yelp

I rely on Yelp to track our online reviews and brand reputation. With over 30 years of experience in plumbing and exceptional customer service, we have amassed over 1,000 5-star reviews on Yelp, helping us become the highest-rated plumbing company in Southern California.

Monitoring Yelp daily has been key to our success. We respond to every review within 24 hours, address any concerns, and use positive reviews in our marketing to build trust in the community. We also keep an eye on our competitors to stay ahead of trends in the plumbing industry.

For example, a few years ago we noticed more people complaining about burst pipes due to aging infrastructure. We quickly launched an affordable pipe inspection-and-replacement program. This proactive move generated 200 new jobs in 6 months and increased revenue 18% from the previous year.

Staying on top of reviews and leveraging them strategically has been pivotal to establishing us as a leader in emergency plumbing and gaining lifelong customers. I highly recommend using review platforms like Yelp to track reputation, uncover new opportunities, improve customer service, and outpace competitors.

Albert Romero, Search Engine Optimization Manager, Option One Plumbing

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