Today we live in a business world where online and social media sales are just as important as traditional sales and marketing. Your consumers get their first impression of your brand not from your sales team, but from your website and mentions of your brand across social platforms. Some of this you can control, but a majority of the content online about you comes from the body of consumers who were either delighted, or disappointed by your company.

Social media creates a dialogue with no boundaries. Almost 90% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust their peers, which shows the power of social media to create connections that extend beyond an online community. If one unhappy customer can influence hundreds of potential customers to not choose your brand, it becomes very obvious how essential reputation management is for your social media presence.

Most of your online reputation management efforts will go towards accumulating positive links and reviews about your brand, and suppressing the negative.  Social media is one of the easiest ways for people to leave reviews about your company. You need to monitor not only reviews left on your pages, but mentions of your brand and products in social media posts. People may or may not tag you in their discussions of your brand, so it’s important to see what people are saying on their own channels.

Respond to all negative comments quickly and empathetically. If your company receives significant social media backlash from an incident, respond to the public as a whole. You should also respond to individuals whenever possible, as you want customers to feel a one-on-one connection to your company. Direct feedback, even when negative, gives you the opportunity to communicate to potential customers and possibly change their attitude.

Competitor analysis is also important. If you see a competitor who has received many positive reviews, analyze their approach and see where you can make improvements. Do they respond to all positive and negative feedback? Do they run social media promotions to encourage feedback? Some of your competitors may be using social media and review management tools, which you should also plan to incorporate into your online reputation management system.

You want to have guidelines in place for employee use of social media. People are watching your high-profile employees and will associate your brand with essentially everyone that works for you. While you can’t control people’s personal lives or social media accounts, you can set guidelines for how your employees talk about your company online.

Hopefully, your social media accounts will promote positive feedback and boost your online reputation. I not, you may want to consult an online reputation management specialist to find ways to improve your ORM campaign. Contact Royal Reputation for questions about online reputation management and how social  media can help you improve your business results.