Did you know that 88% of consumers trust written online reviews? Without some form of social media reputation management, how do you know what people are saying about your business or your brand?
Social media reputation management enables a business or brand to track, monitor and eliminate negative social media material about your brand. This ultimately improves the business or brand's credibility.
Although it is impossible to avoid negative feedback, there are just as many people speaking positively about your brand or your business. Those positive reviews will encourage a consumer to choose your business or brand over a competitor. You have to be fully engaged with all social media conversations happening that involve your brand and reputation.
It is important to be credible not just among review sites, but also among social media networks. Word-Of-Mouth marketing should be taken very seriously, with responses to both positive and negative reviews across all social media channels. Social media monitoring tools such as HootSuite or SproutSocial make social media management easier and less time-consuming.
Here is a list of the top few ways that you can manage your reputation with social media:
Assess Current Reputation on Social Networks
What is your current business or brand reputation? You need to conduct an assessment of your present reputation on social media. Find out how people perceive your business or brand before tempering with your existing social media plan. There are tools that can assist with this, such as Brand Grader by Mention. This will help you determine the strengths and weaknesses of your online reputation.
Monitor Activity
Did you know that 96% of unhappy customers don’t complain directly to the brand, but instead they tell their friends about the issues they experienced? This typically occurs when someone posts a negative experience on social media without tagging the business or brand. This Word-Of-Mouth has the potential to cause a lot of harm to your business or brand reputation. If you aren’t actively listening for these mentions, you may be missing out on critical brand sentiment information. Social listening requires a dedicated employee or team, depending on the size of the business or brand.
Post Regularly
Simply having a social profile will not improve your search landscape. You will need to post regularly to show Google that your profile is active and relevant to your brand. Ideally, you should plan to post different content across each social network. If you do not have the time or the resources, you can set up an automation that shares your blog content across all social networks.
Train your Team
Ongoing training is essential to the success of social media reputation management. Training has the ability to prevent future complaints and convert an angry customer into a loyal brand advocate.
Your training strategy should also include a plan for crisis management. You and your team will need to be prepared for comments and direct messages across all social networks during an emergency. This can prevent mistakes that worsen your online reputation and prolong crisis recovery.
Respond Professionally and Directly
Unfortunately, negative reviews and comments will be left on your social feed, and deleting them can turn a few complaints into an angry mob. Silencing users may also cause them to take their stories to the media, which can throw fuel to the fire. We suggest properly handling customer complaints, by showing your followers that you listen and care and responding in a professional manner.
Best Practices:
- Acknowledge the problem and take responsibility. It will show your followers that you take them and their issues seriously.
- Display empathy towards your audience to show you understand their complaints.
- Express a willingness to resolve their issues and prevent any future negative feedback by coming up with a solution.
Tell your Story
Everyone loves a good story, especially a story that tugs at the heartstrings and forces the audience to relate to the story and empathize. You can utilize your social profiles to share your brand’s positive narrative, instead of just selling your products and services. Talk about the good things your company is doing, particularly your corporate social responsibility efforts.
Play the Volumes Game
Did you know that 65% of customers are loyal to a brand that responds to their messages? Additionally, 70% of those customers use their services as a result of this interaction. It is important to respond to every single social media mention, whether positive or negative. Simply responding will humanize your brand. Investing in your business or brand social media reputation will result in impeccable credibility that boosts sales and protects your brand from future negative press. Utilize your social media channels to monitor brand sentiment, engage with followers and promote your business or brand's social good. You will not regret it.
