Your business’s reputation online and offline can affect your profits and brand in major ways, including the word-of-mouth about your company. At the grocery chain Albertsons, new hires learn this: “You lose one customer, you’ve just lost 100. That one customer you lost will tell their friends, and those friends will tell their friends, and so on.” That’s the power of word-of-mouth marketing, or WOM marketing.

The good news is that companies do have considerable power in controlling their reputation. To maintain a good brand reputation and keep your WOM marketing positive, check out the following tips.

Check Online Reviews and Comments

Tracking reviews from popular online channels is essential to curating a positive reputation. The best way to monitor this is to set up a Google alert for your business. Another way to get ahead of any bad reviews is to set up business accounts on Google and Yelp. For Google, you will need to claim your business listing on Google My Business. It’s a great way to allow people to review you, build up your reputation, and spread positive WOM marketing online.

You should also keep a tab on reviews posted on social media about your company. Be sure to respond to any reviews or comments. In response to positive reviews, let customers know they’re being heard, and they’ll be more inclined to consider your business next time they want to make a purchase. In addressing negative reviews, be sure to respond quickly, alleviate any concerns the customer has, and enable the customer to take down the review.

For example, some local coffee shops will offer a free drink if the original is not satisfactory. If the issue is posted online, you may see the company respond with an offer along the lines of, “We’re terribly sorry for the inconvenience. Please stop by again for a free drink!” For more serious matters, privately chat with the customer to ensure nothing else negative gets posted online from that specific instance.

It is not uncommon for some bad reviews to be unfair or irrational, but be sure to keep your rhetoric as professional as possible, no matter how rude the customer is. Once your response is posted, it will be there forever. Some businesses will try to remove their comments if the conversation gets heated, but it can come back to bite them if someone takes a picture of it.

Have an Active Brand Presence on Social Media

With over 2 billion active social media users, it’s impossible to ignore social media as a factor in maintaining brand reputation. Posting engaging and entertaining content is key, and that’s not always easy to do. You’ll need to determine what content your target audience reacts with on your competitors’ profiles. Do they like memes? Do they like inspirational quotes? Timing is crucial too; the best way to determine what time of day you engage with the highest number of people in your audience is to test it yourself week to week. Remember that just having social media accounts is not enough. You may need to hire a dedicated social media specialist.

Register With Popular Local Business Directories

Registering with popular business directories will help bolster your credibility. Make sure they’re reliable, though. Some simply exist for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, while others are just trying to scam you for registration money. Do some research in the industry before committing. This will also help when encountering negative comments or bad reviews.

Unfortunately, no matter how great of a product or service you have, you will never be able to please everyone. But as long as you make brand reputation maintenance a priority in your business, you will find success.