The introduction of social media has changed the way businesses communicate with their consumers. It has also changed they way consumers talk about the businesses they use. In many cases this opens up a great relationship between company and consumer. But with the good comes the bad and there are cases where social media becomes an outlet for consumers to voice their frustrations and share negative experiences.
Online brand management is key for all businesses. Just because your business doesn't have any social media profiles and isn't implementing a social media marketing plan does not mean your consumers are talking about you in those outlets.
1. The first step to managing your online reputation is to incorporate a monitoring system. The internet is larger and more complex than is even imaginable. This makes the idea of monitoring your online brand manually nearly impossible. Thankfully there have been several products introduced that will monitor your brand for you.
There are a lot of monitoring systems to choose from. Some such as Google and Yahoo Alerts! will email you when someone mentions your brand online. They also allow you to set up searches for keywords surrounding your brand. Another option such as Hootsuite lets you manage your own social media profiles by pushing out messages on multiple profiles at once and scheduling messages in advance. Hootsuite also shows you the mentions being made about your brand online.
These platforms offer different benefits so do your research and find the one that best meets your needs. Once you choose a monitoring system it's important to allot ample time to monitoring what the platform finds for you.
2. The second step is to analyze what the monitoring system prepares for you.
How do you anticipate the feedback (negative or positive) will be received by your audience? Does it necessitate a response?
If you use your monitoring system to seek out negative feedback and then simply delete the negative comments you aren't actually using the information to benefit your brand or your business. Someone who has posted their negative comments is giving you the opportunity to make things right. Responding to the comment and letting the person know that you heard what they had to say and are working to fix the issue will go a long way. Even if you can retain the business of the person who commented you may satisfy the concerns of others who read the comment.
3. The last step in this process is to influence your audience.
Choose the right social media outlets for your business. Facebook and Twitter are the most popular but that does not guarantee they will be the right fit for your business.
When you receive a negative comment in your social media page, spin it into a positive one by responding with a solution. Even if you can't fix it right away let them know you're working on it. This will go a long way with your followers.
Keeping current on industry trends and participating in online discussions surrounding your service or product will help to influence your social community. Start an industry blog to share your knowledge and opinions. This will also reinforce your credibility as an industry expert.
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