It’s no secret that social media plays a big role in how people perceive brands these days. A single negative tweet or Facebook post can cause a lot of damage to a company’s reputation – and it only takes a few seconds for it to spread.
That’s why it’s more important than ever for brands to make sure they’re doing everything they can to maintain a good online reputation. In this article we’ll be discussing 7 tips and tricks to help you do just that.
1. Monitor Your Social Media Channels Regularly
It’s vital to monitor your social media channels carefully. By regularly checking in on what people are saying about you online, you can nip any potential problems in the bud before they have a chance to do serious damage.
So how do you go about monitoring your social media channels?
- Set up Google Alerts for your name and any relevant keywords. This will help you keep track of what’s being said about you online, and you can react quickly if anything negative pops up.
- Check in on your social media accounts regularly. Whether it’s once a day or once a week, make sure you’re looking at what people are saying about you on sites like Twitter and Facebook.
- Use a mention monitoring tool to track mentions of your name across the web. There are various social media management tools that can notify you whenever your name is mentioned online, so you can stay on top of things even when you’re not actively checking your social media accounts.
2. Respond Promptly to Customer Inquiries or Complaints
To maintain a positive online reputation, it is critical to respond quickly to inquiries and complaints. By doing so, you show your customers that you care about their experience and are willing to address any issues they may have.
This not only helps to resolve the problem at hand, but also builds trust and loyalty among your customer base.
According to forbes.com, “ASAP is the goal. Treat the customer as you personally would want to be treated.”
Here are some pointers on how to respond promptly to inquiries and complaints:
- Be available. Make sure you or someone on your team is available to handle customer inquiries and complaints in a timely manner. This could mean having someone dedicated to monitoring social media channels, email, or phone lines.
- Be responsive. Once you receive an inquiry or complaint, acknowledge it as soon as possible. Let the customer know you are taking their concerns seriously and are working to resolve the issue.
- Be professional. Always remain professional when communicating with customers, even if they are angry or upset. This means keeping a calm demeanor and avoiding any negative or condescending language.
3. Proactively Reach Out to Customers Who’ve had a Negative Experience
It’s not enough to simply sit back and hope that customers will leave positive reviews. You also need to be proactive in dealing with customer inquiries and complaints.
By reaching out to customers who have had a negative experience and trying to make things right, you can show that you’re committed to providing excellent customer service.
This can go a long way towards maintaining a good online reputation for your brand.
Here are some guidelines on how you can proactively reach out to customers who have had a negative experience:
- Try to reach out to the customer privately. This can be done through a direct message on social media, or by contacting the customer directly via email or phone.
- Apologize for the negative experience and offer to make things right. This might involve providing a refund, issuing a voucher for future purchases, or simply offering to listen to the customer’s concerns and feedback.
- Keep an open mind and be willing to adjust your policies and procedures based on feedback from customers. By showing that you’re willing to change based on customer feedback, you’ll further improve your online reputation.
4. Make Sure Your Website and Social Media Channels are Updated Regularly with Fresh, Relevant Content
As a business owner, you know that first impressions are important. The same goes for your brand’s online reputation.
Potential customers will likely do a bit of research on your company before doing business with you, and if they don’t find anything recent or relevant, they may move on to someone else.
That’s why you need to make sure your website and social media channels are updated regularly with fresh, relevant content.
Here’s how you do it:
- Make sure the information on your website is accurate and current. If you have an outdated website, it could give potential customers the wrong impression about your brand. Regularly adding new content, whether it’s blog posts, product pages, or even just images and videos, can help keep your website looking fresh.
- Be active on social media. Maintaining a strong social media presence is a great way to build and maintain a good online reputation for your brand. Posting relevant and engaging content on a regular basis will show potential customers that you’re active and engaged with your audience. Additionally, responding quickly to Facebook Ads comments and questions shows that you’re attentive and responsive to your customers’ needs.
- Don’t forget about your brand safety to ensure the protection of brand’s reputation in your online advertising practices.
5. Take Advantage of Positive Online Reviews
Positive reviews can do wonders for your business, helping to attract new customers and boost sales.
On the other hand, negative reviews can be extremely damaging, deterring potential customers and resulting in lost business.
Given the importance of online reviews, it’s crucial that you take steps to manage your brand’s reputation online. One of the best ways to do this is by taking advantage of positive online reviews.
Make sure to check out Rep.co for review management software that can help you with your reviews.
Here are some of the best ways you can use positive online reviews to maintain a good reputation for your brand:
- Share positive online reviews on social media. When you receive a positive review, make sure to share it on your social media channels. This will help to spread the word about your business and show potential customers that you’re a reputable company worth doing business with.
- Use positive online reviews in your marketing materials. This could include adding testimonials to your website or using customer quotes in your ads. When potential customers see that others have had a positive experience with your business, they’ll be more likely to do business with you as well.
- Respond to positive online reviews publicly. This shows potential customers that you’re paying attention to what people are saying about your brand and that you care about providing a good experience for everyone. A simple thank-you message is usually all that’s needed, but you can also include additional details about what makes your business great.
6. Be Careful About What You Post on Social Media
One of the most important ways to maintain a good online reputation is to be careful about what you post on social media.
In this Inc.com article Alumnify CEO, AJ Agarwal states that “Posting impulsively on social media can cause a lot of damage.
Anything you post on your personal and business social media feeds should be carefully considered.”
If you’re not careful with what you post on social media, it can damage your brand’s reputation.
You can avoid making this mistake by doing the following:
- Think before you post. Before you hit the “post” button, take a few minutes to think about what you’re posting. Is it something that could be misconstrued as offensive or harmful to your brand? If so, you might want to reconsider posting it.
- Be aware of the tone of your posts. Even if you’re not intentionally trying to be negative, the tone of your posts can come across as negative if you’re not careful. Make sure that the overall tone of your social media posts is positive and upbeat.
- Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your customers to see. This seems like common sense, but it’s worth repeating. Anything you post on social media is public information that can be seen by anyone, including your customers. So, if you don’t want your customers to see it, don’t post it.
- Respond quickly to negative posts. If you do see a negative post about your brand on social media, don’t ignore it. Address the issue head-on and try to resolve it as quickly as possible. The sooner you deal with the problem, the less damage it will do to your brand’s reputation. For faster communication you can deploy Chatbots on your website, to help customers within no time.
7. Have a Plan in Place for How You’ll Deal with a Social Media Crisis
Social media can be a minefield. One false move and your brand could find itself in the middle of a social media crisis.
While it’s impossible to predict when or how a crisis will occur, you can be prepared by having a plan in place for how to deal with one.
By meeting with your team to outline a plan, you can minimize the damage and quickly get back on track.
You can build a solid social media crisis by taking these steps:
- Know your audience. The first step is to understand who your audience is and what they expect from you on social media. This will help you determine what kind of content to post and how to respond to comments and questions.
- Be proactive. The best way to deal with a social media crisis is to be proactive. This means being open and honest about any problems that arise. If you try to hide or cover up a problem, it will only make the situation worse.
- Respond quickly. IIf problem does occur, it’s important to respond quickly. The longer you wait, the more damage will be done. Address the issue head-on and let your audience know what you’re doing to fix the problem.
- Be transparent. Transparency is key when dealing with a social media crisis. Keep your audience updated on what’s happening and what you’re doing to resolve the issue. If you’re not transparent, people will lose faith in your brand.
- Take responsibility. If you’re at fault for the crisis, take responsibility. Apologize for any mistakes and let your audience know what you’re doing to make things right. Trying to shift the blame will only make the situation worse.
- Learn from your mistakes. Once the crisis has been resolved, take some time to reflect on what happened. What could you have done differently? What can you learn from this experience? By taking these lessons to heart, you can prevent future crises from happening.
Conclusion
A good online reputation will increase customer loyalty, drive bottom-line growth, and boost customer trust in your brand. It can make or break your business, so taking the time to maintain it is essential.
By following the advice in this post, you can put your best foot forward and continue to reap the benefits of a positive online reputation.
Have you tried any of these methods for keeping your brand’s online reputation in good standing? Tell us in the comments!
About the Author!
Joe Troyer is one of the founders of Virtual Valley. They own and grow profitable bootstrapped ventures that are entirely bootstrapped and funded by customers, forcing them to focus on building products that customers, not investors, love. Their latest venture Review Grower aims to compete in a market with competitors doing hundreds of millions a year. Their goal is simple: By creating enterprises that address the most pressing issues affecting tomorrow’s top firms, they enable growth in marketers, agencies, and companies.