In this age of information and social media, reputation management has become critically important to a brand’s image. Failure to recognize, monitor and manage what people are saying about your brand over social media can have serious consequences for your company’s reputation and translate into a very real decline in your bottom line.
Social Media networks have skyrocketed in popularity; Facebook alone has nearly a billion daily active users. Social Media and the mobile technology boom has equipped consumers with the ability to quickly see what others are saying about a brand’s products and services, so it’s crucial that you make sure that what they find casts your brand in a positive light. Chances are someone has gone onto a social media network recently to either praise or complain about your brand, and unless you are active on that network you wouldn’t know about it until it was too late. The first thing you need to do is to establish your brand on a social network so that you can participate and gain some control over the conversation when it comes to your brand.
Consumer Interaction:
Consumers are influenced by online reviews by as much as 90% according to a study by Dimensional Research. The ability to reach out to people that have left a bad review is a powerful tool that can improve your customer service operation, your reputation and your business, however many review sites make responding to negative reviews exceedingly difficult leaving you with no control. Even E-commerce giant Amazon only has a limited invitation-only pilot program for which businesses need approval before they can respond to a negative review.
By having a more robust presence on social media, you can develop a more effective portal through which you can easily and almost conversationally address customer concerns, leaving your customers with little or no reason to visit a review site where their concerns oftentimes cannot be addressed and are more permanent. It is necessary to operate with a degree of caution when dealing with an unsatisfied customer over social media as what may seem like a more personal way to engage could end up being a very public exchange with someone whose only agenda is to make your business look bad.
Visibility:
If consumers can see that your brand is working or has worked towards a solution for a customer, they will likely view your business in a more positive light. In order for people to see those exchanges where your company went above and beyond, you have to create high-ranking social media profiles that are visible on search engines. Your company needs to have a strong presence on established social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest that allow for continual updates and activity which feeds a powerful signal to search engines that can boost your brand’s visibility online. When a consumer types in your brand on Google, you want your social media profiles to pop up on page one – making it easy for the consumer to engage with your brand.
The more strong social media profiles you have the better when it comes to monitoring and managing what people are saying about your brand. And if it isn’t always positive, these profiles offer you an opportunity to turn things around and improve your image. Let WebiMax help your brands' reputation by evaluating your online presence. Talk to a Reputation Management Expert at WebiMax - call 888-932-4629 today!
