Using Social Media For Reputation Management
Many businesses go online and find out their reputations are being muddied by a few vindictive customers and some competitors running negative ad campaigns (that’s right, it’s not just for politics).
There are any number of reasons why your company brand may receive negative attention in the news that can multiply exponentially and create trouble.
Here are a few ways to get started in using social media for reputation management:
Find out Who’s saying What and Respond
As mentioned before, more and more companies are discovering that a well-run business does not
necessarily translate into a flawless reputation. That’s why one of the best ways to find out what people are saying is to go on Twitter and enter a hashtag with the name of your company, or see what Twitter lists you’re showing up on. Or, if you’re a smaller company that likely isn’t the subject of Internet memes, go on sites like Yelp and other social news aggregators and find out what people are saying. You can use that information to address issues that are affecting your company’s reputation.
Create Positive Content and Share It
One of the best ways to improve your company’s online Page Rank, SEO, and overall public persona is to create a blog that shares news about your business. This is especially necessary if you’re combatting negative publicity. Companies dealing with business debacles must go on the offensive and not only create positive content (interviews, podcasts, viral content, blogs) but use social media to share it with niche communities that may act as sounding boards.
Solicit Feedback and Better Ideas
Do you have any better ideas? Sometimes the best way to deal with unsettled consumers is to allow them to come up with the answer. That’s where crowdsourcing and user generated content comes into play. Many brands are using social media apps like Instagram to sponsor user generated contests for images and videos by which they can acquire viral content straight from the hearts and souls of the consumer.
Takeaway
Social media is a powerful business tool that can be used to generate sales growth, tap new markets, and create new business models. It can also be used to help businesses manage their online reputations, and a great many companies are discovering this and reaping positive results. Accordingly, numerous businesses hire an online reputation management company to combat just such a scenario. Regardless of whether you enlist outside help or go it alone, you will need to utilize social media.
By Damian Davila, tech blogger living in Honolulu, Hawaii. Read more of Damian’s articles at SexySocialMedia.com here. Follow him on Twitter at @idaconcpts.
Posted in Social Media Tools. Tags: online reputation, online reputations, reputation management, social media reputation, using social media for reputation management
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