Customers are incredibly savvy nowadays. Once upon a time, a company was almost fully in control of their reputation, because word of mouth simply couldn’t travel very far. Today, however, social media and review websites are there to enable people to share their stories with millions, if not billions, of people the world over. This is why all businesses should be committed to reputation management, as their reputation can literally make or break them. The best thing to do is work with a professional management company, but there are things that you can do yourself as well, which all focus on social media. Let’s take a closer look.
Facebook gives businesses amazing opportunities, because it enables them to have direct interaction with others. A Facebook page can also be used to advertise special deals, sales, new products, community service, and more. Further, should someone ask a question, the company can answer them immediately. Last but not least, Facebook can be used to write reviews, positive or negative. These are all important strengths in terms of managing an online reputation.
Another very important tool is Twitter, which gives companies some control of conversations that involve them. They can create a new Tweet, which will instantly be shown to their followers, not unlike a press release, for instance. The one problem with it is, however, that if someone accidentally Tweets the wrong thing, it can have pretty disastrous consequences. It is not unheard of for someone to accidentally Tweet something very offensive, for instance. Also, human error in price or feature lists, for instance, can cause a lot of damage and actually lower a company’s reputation. Unfortunately, once it is out there, the damage has been done. It is perhaps not surprising that the vast majority of businesses outsource their Twitter feed, giving it in the hands of a professional organization.
Twitter and Facebook are the two key social media platforms that you should use. At the same time, it is recommended that businesses also use Instagram and Pinterest to share images. Meanwhile, they should regularly create videos (video marketing is huge!) and share that on YouTube. One other important social media network is LinkedIn, which is designed specifically for video marketing, which is likely to be the next big thing in terms of online marketing.
Of key importance is that you, as a business, have a strong social media presence. This also means that you do have to invest a lot of time in what you do. You cannot simply open a Facebook page and then not share any information or not respond to your customers. They will unfollow you so quickly, you will feel as if they were never there. Twitter, meanwhile, has to be used properly in order to avoid human error. The best thing to do, therefore, is to hire a professional. They will know how to create engaging, interesting content, and how to reply to those who leave comments or remarks.