How to respond when social media attacks your brand
Back in the days before social media, businesses and organisations issued press releases to inform the public on new developments, products and promotions.
Contrastingly, in the current digital age, customers easily share their experiences, negative AND positive, via sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Pinterest, Google+, Tripadvisor, Qype and Yelp. Never heard of the last two? These are sites where customers can rate any type of business and service: hairdressers, bicycle shops, accountants, taxi companies, banks, etc. We’ve even seen reviews of places of worship. People with too much time on their hands?
Perhaps, but it happens. People used to share their personal experiences with their friends and family, now they share it with the world wide web. Managing your online reputation is now more important than ever. But how do you keep on top on this?
Here are some tips:
- Sign up to Google Alerts! This is a free service which allows businesses to keep a tab on what people say about them on the internet including any social media sites www.google.com/alerts
- Deal with negative content quickly in a professional way. Be honest and transparent. If you messed up, admit it. It can change the effect of a bad review dramatically and prevent it from growing arms and legs (People like to ‘join in’ on a rant). Never respond in an equally negative way and lay the blame with the customer
- Offer a solution
- Thank positive reviewers. Be friendly and engaging on review sites.
- Create your own content on social media channels like Facebook and engage.
- Claim your entries on review sites like Tripadvisor, Qype, Yelp and Foursquare
- Blog! Blogging is an easy way to share the latest news and promos as well as being search engine friendly
- Sign up to Mention or Socialmention, tools to find mentions of your brand on social media sites www.mention.net and www.socialmention.com
Hope the above helps, and don’t forget to sign up to Google Alerts!
