If people are talking about your personal or business brand on social media, you naturally want to know about it.
In order to elevate your brand image, it’s important to maintain a good social media reputation.
Why? Anything that gets posted online can either make or break your brand.
Positive reviews build trust and in this digital era, most people prefer to review a business or product online before making a purchase or striking a deal with the business.
These facts are corroborated by a 2014 consumer survey by BrightLocal that revealed that 88% of consumers trust online reviews from customers before they can decide on whether to trust a business.
In addition to that, a recent study conducted by the London school of economics revealed that a 2% reduction in negative word of mouth increases sales growth by 1%.
So how does social media reputation help to promote your brand image?
Whether it’s a general comment, negative review, or enraged criticism, social media is the first place unsatisfied customers go to air their opinions and thoughts.
It is also the first place every brand marketer should go to voice their concerns as well as respond to customer’s queries. This is why most business heavily invest in social media monitoring tools so as not to miss a message.
What is social media reputation management
Social media reputation management is the practice of monitoring, tracking, and ultimately weeding out negative social media content that may stain your brand image.
Given the necessary attention, social media reputation management can significantly boost your credibility to customers, which eventually builds trust and strengthens your brand image.
How businesses can use social media to manage online reputation
If you want to boost sales and achieve a significant market share in the ever competitive world, you need to train your eyes on your social media reputation.
Here’s how you can use social media to build your online reputation.
1. Spread the positives
Positive reviews beget more reviews.
Try to spread all the good news and testimonies that customers are saying about your brand/products across social media platforms.
Without being preachy, make sure people get to know of the good work you do.
Make sure you respond to positive comments with compliments such as “Thank you, we are here to serve you better and make your life easier”
Continued discussion increases visibility and lets loyal customers know you appreciate them. Do not shy off from asking for positive recommendations.
2. Listen to what customers are saying
If two or more customers give same criticisms about your products, be sure to act swiftly before someone sounds off on social media.
Using social media to address customer complaints and queries goes a long way to building trust and brand loyalty.
Use customer’s suggestions to improve your products/services.
Understanding what customers want and providing services that exceed their expectation is the surest way to succeed in business.
3. Be alive to the negatives
Take note of the negative things that people are saying about your brand/products on social media.
Keep in mind that people will always be people. Some might trash your brand image for no reason. Learn how to address this in a diplomatic way on social media channels.
Be sure to address genuine complaints from customers in a tactful way. Assure them that you’re doing everything possible to address their concerns.
Sometimes, all peoples want is just to be heard.
4. Use social media as a search engine optimizer
Social media channels are high authority platforms on search engines, which means certain keywords associated with your brand will show on the first page of Google.
You don’t want prospects looking for your products/services to be hit by those negative reviews/comments.
Create your brand profiles on all social media platforms and use keywords wisely to describe your products and services.
With the internet bringing people closer and making the world a smaller place, online reviews can reach the deepest corners of the world within a fraction of a second.
How you respond to these reviews determines your social media reputation.
