6 Ways Social Media Can Make Or Break Your Brand
Social media's power has been fueled by an intense growth of users and popularity, which has given free speech extraordinary weight in the online community. What does this mean for your business? Anyone who has come into contact with your company is able to voice their satisfaction, or lack thereof, to millions of readers across the world. Every company with an online presence should create a thorough social media marketing plan to control their online reputation and harness the incredible power of social media.
Here are some of the greatest ways to make sure social media doesn't drag your online reputation under:
Resolve Complaints
1. Ripoff Report: When customers have a terrible experience, they like to vent their frustrations to anyone who will listen. Ripoff Report allows anyone to file complaints against companies who have "ripped them off" and helps warn other customers of poor business operations. Try searching for your company name and see if any complaints have been filed against you. Resolve these issues by posting your rebuttal and explanation of the problem. These issues are usually misunderstandings of some sort and clearing up the problem, while trying to lobby your interests, will help control negative feedback.
2. Get Satisfaction: In a similar manner to Ripoff Report, Get Satisfaction allows you to create a network around your business. Customers can interact with employees of your company, ask questions and post complaints. This is a great way to provide customer service and resolve issues that would otherwise negatively affect your reputation.
Build a Community
3. Twitter: By creating a Twitter account for your brand that you regularly update, you can conveniently connect with your customers and others in the community. One of the greatest resources that Twitter offers is the ability to connect your blogs and forums to individual Twitter accounts. This way, visitors will be able to "sign in" to your site through their existing Twitter account to post their thoughts, answer and ask questions and become generally connected to your community. This is a great way to create a following for your brand!
4. Facebook: Facebook is another great way to create interest in your brand. Through Facebook Connect, you can also allow visitors to "sign in" to your site with their Facebook credentials. This way, your customers will be able to interact with you through their favorite social networking tools. Your visitors will be able to update their status and publish their comments made on your site, giving your brand instant advertising.
Connect with Professionals
5. Industry-Related Networks: Social media is all about connecting with others who have interests similar to yours. When you join a network as a business entity, this still applies! There are many social networks geared towards specific industries, which allows you to become an active voice in your related field. Here are some examples of the industry-specific social networks: Active Rain (for real estate agents) and Sphinn (for marketing and advertising professionals.)
6. Linked In: Linked In is a social network for professionals in all fields. With a Linked In account, you can connect with business contacts, department chairs, professionals in your industry and customers. This account will help build your corporate rapport among professionals just as social media helps build brand awareness among your customer base.
While this is a great overview for beginning social media marketers, the real key to success here is in management. Once your company profiles are created in these networks, they need to be constantly nurtured with frequent updates, interacting with your peers and quick response times to inquiries and issues. This will tell your followers, fans or other readers that your company is well-managed and thorough.
This internet marketing article was originally posted at submitsolution.com
More internet marketing articles can be found at submitsolution.com.
Tags: Blogs, Business Customers, Business Operations, Complaints Against Companies, Free Speech, Frustrations, Incredible Power, Intense Growth, Marketing Plan, Misunderstandings, Negative Feedback, Poor Business, Popularity, Presence, Rebuttal, Reputation, Resolve, Ripoff Report, Satisfaction, Twitter
