No brand – not even schools – can escape the importance of reputation management in today’s online world. These days, prospective students and families gain an impression of your school before they even reach your website or meet your admissions team at a school fair. There are countless online directory ratings, reviews, interviews and social media comments that build a narrative you don’t always have full control over. A quick search will expose what your community really thinks of your school. What your school can control is how you respond and build a narrative on your own.
With these 5 easy steps, your school’s communications team can take back the brand narrative online:
1. Conduct an Audit
The first step of online reputation management is understanding where your school’s reputation currently stands. Finding all the relevant places your school is mentioned online will make monitoring in the future easier. Knowing where damage control is needed most will help your school’s communication team prioritize their online efforts.
To conduct a full online reputation management audit, start with extensive search related to your school, faculty members and programs:
- Your school’s name
- Your school’s name + reviews
- Your school’s name + club, team or program
- Your school’s name + head of school’s name
- Your school’s name + teacher’s name
Bonus Tip: Never stop at page 1! Search results are different for everyone. What’s on page 2 for you might be on page 1 for someone else. A thorough audit will search through the first 5 pages of search results.
2. Claim Profiles
Once you know everywhere your school is listed online, your communications team can begin correcting any misinformation listed, such as address, phone number or website URL. Many online directories pull information from other sources as a starting point, and offer schools to claim and manage their own listing.
School profiles to research and claim include:
- Google My Business
- Apple Maps
- Bing Business
- Niche.com
- Boarding School Review
- College Board
- GreatSchools
- Yellow Pages
- Local and regional business directories
Claiming your school’s online profiles creates a better first impression with families by having all the correct contact information readily available. Most profiles always provide an opportunity to introduce what your school is really about right from the start. These profiles are also search engine optimization (SEO) benefits to claiming as many profiles as possible that link back to your school’s website.
3. Monitor Mentions
Your initial audit should not be a one and done task – it should become a part of your quarterly routine. Repeat those same searches regularly to ensure all changes are being monitored. Your school’s communication team can even set up search alerts on Google to make monitoring even easier.
Similarly to social media accounts, certified claimed profiles will notify the listing owners of any new reviews or comments made on your profile. Reviews, questions and comments should be responded to in a timely manner, even if they’re just positive notes.
4. Promote the Positive
Good press is the best way to maintain a positive reputation online. Start by spreading good news on your website and social media. News posts don’t need to be anything lengthy or extravagant. They should be authentic and highlight the stories and experiences of your school’s community. This type of content educates your audience, builds authority and tells your school’s mission through real stories. Creating content that builds keywords of your school’s name associated with positive community words like scholarship, honors students or graduation will put your school at the top of search results.
5. Address the Negative
It’s estimated over 63% of consumers claim they never hear back from brands. When dealing with negative reviews and comments, it’s crucial to reply in a timely manner without starting a public argument. Instead, try taking the conversation offline by offering an email or phone call. Your reply should be sympathetic without necessarily taking any blame, but rather offering to extend the conversation to find a resolution to their issue. If there are multiple staff members managing reputation management, consider taking the time to build a library of scripted responses to ensure consistent tone and word choices.
Blue Baden is the only marketing and strategy consulting company specifically designed to meet the needs of boarding schools. If your school needs help with reputation management, contact Blue Baden today.
