And opinions spread extremely quickly on social media.<\/p>\n
- \n
- A positive post about your brand can rapidly do wonders for your reputation. But, a negative post can cause your reputation to take a nosedive—especially if the post goes viral.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
So, you’ll want to magnify the positive to boost your standing, and curb the negative before it spreads. You\u2019ll also want to carefully create and curate the content you post on your own account.<\/p>\n
How to do this? We’ve got you covered with our tips to build, monitor, and maintain your brand’s social media reputation.<\/p>\n
Building your reputation on social media<\/h2>\n
Follow these steps to make the right moves and build your reputation on social media.<\/p>\n
1. Define the reputation you want<\/h3>\n
Before you can build your brand reputation<\/a> on social media, you need to establish what kind of reputation you want. Ask yourself, based on your brand goals, mission, and values \u2013 how do you want your brand to be known? Do you want people to see you as authoritative? Humorous? Socially responsible? Or something else?<\/p>\n
Think about what content your target audience naturally appreciates on social. Then, combine your audience\u2019s preferences with your persona and values to establish a social brand voice, based on the reputation you\u2019d like to cultivate.<\/p>\n
![\"wendys](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/spicy-nuggs-social-post.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nWendy\u2019s<\/a><\/em> has built up a reputation for wit and humor on social media.<\/em><\/p>\n
2. Check your current social reputation before you proceed<\/h3>\n
Before you continue with your social media reputation management plan, it\u2019s important to check your brand\u2019s existing reputation on social media. How do people currently perceive you?<\/p>\n
Scouring social networks might seem like a time-consuming task, but you don\u2019t have to go at it manually. Social media management software like Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Mention can help you with this task. Mention even has a free Brand Grader that assesses your current reputation, so you can see your strengths and weaknesses at a glance.<\/p>\n
3. Choose the right platforms<\/h3>\n
Which platforms should you focus on to build your reputation? You can\u2019t focus on every social network, so build up your presence on the platforms your audience uses. Where are people already generating buzz about you? And what are your desired customers\u2019 general platforms of choice?<\/p>\n
The content types you plan to focus on will also guide your decision.<\/p>\n
Facebook<\/strong> is a great general-purpose platform, so it\u2019s a reliable choice for all brands to share varied content. It even has a \u201crecommendations\u201d feature where users can review and recommend your brand. The feature ties the recommendation to your own page, even if someone didn\u2019t write the recommendation there.\u00a0However, the active, regular user audience skews older. Millennial and Gen Z audiences prefer other networks.<\/p>\n
Twitter<\/strong> works well for sharing small bites of information, quick humorous content, and compelling visuals. It\u2019s also great for linking out to other articles you write, and quickly resharing others\u2019 content that\u2019s related to your business. So, Twitter is a true multi-purpose platform. And audiences of many demographics use it and love it.<\/p>\n
Instagram:<\/strong> If your aim is to show off carefully curated visuals of your products, you\u2019ll need to prioritize Instagram. Instagram is also great for finding and promoting user-generated content,<\/a> and enlisting the help of influencers and ambassadors. Being able to show compelling, authentic examples of your product being used in real life is always a plus! You\u2019ll also have the potential for versatile content \u2013 use IGTV to create longer videos and Stories for limited-time content. Millennials and Gen Z users love the platform, but Instagram reaches users of all ages. 8 out of 10 Instagram users follow at least one business<\/a>\u00a0on the platform.<\/p>\n
Other Networks:<\/strong>\u00a0The above networks are the \u201cbig three\u201d for reaching wide audiences, but also consider networks like these for specific purposes and audiences:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Is your goal to create a series of informational or entertaining videos, or to showcase video testimonials? Create an account on YouTube.<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Primarily marketing to Gen Z audiences? Build up a presence on Snapchat<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- LinkedIn<\/strong>\u00a0is a solid choice for B2B businesses to build their reputation on.<\/li>\n
- Pinterest<\/strong>\u00a0is often underrated, but it\u2019s an effective choice to curate visual content related to your brand from other sources, as well as to promote your own long-form content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
4. Set measurable goals<\/h3>\n
Setting and tracking measurable goals will help you determine if your reputation management efforts are truly paying off.<\/p>\n
This step relates to all aspects of a social media reputation management plan (including monitoring reputation and responding to feedback). But you should set goals very early on in the process \u2013 that’s why we\u2019re listing goal-setting here.<\/p>\n
What should you measure? Consider tracking these metrics:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Website visits that come from your social media account<\/li>\n
- Purchases that originate from social media<\/li>\n
- Traffic to your pages<\/li>\n
- Engagement (likes, comments and shares on your posts)<\/li>\n
- Follower numbers<\/li>\n
- Mentions<\/li>\n
- Social sentiment (percentage of positive mentions, relative to overall mentions of your brand. Essentially, this is your \u201creputation score\u201d for social media)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
(For more social media metrics to pay attention to, check out this article<\/a>\u00a0on social media goal-setting by Hootsuite.)<\/p>\n
5. Establish posting rules<\/h3>\n
Set up posting and responding rules\/regulations for the employees behind your brand’s account. This will help ensure that what an employee posts about you doesn\u2019t set off a chain reaction that harms your reputation. (And it only takes one post to do damage, so tread carefully.)<\/p>\n
Rules you set could include the ones below:<\/p>\n
![\"social](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/social-posting-rules.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nCheck out our guidelines for responding to others on social media below. They\u2019ll provide foundations for other great social media policies.<\/p>\n
6. Maintain an active social presence<\/h3>\n
Post engaging and relevant content regularly that aligns with your goals!<\/p>\n
Social media reputation management can be time-consuming. So, be sure to use a social media scheduling tool, like Buffer or Hootsuite, to plan posts in advance and queue them for scheduled times.<\/p>\n
Monitoring reputation on social media<\/h2>\n
Yes, you need to know what people are saying about you on social, the moment it happens, so you can take appropriate actions. But monitoring your reputation on social involves so much more than this!<\/p>\n
Be sure to use reputation management software<\/a> to monitor these factors that affect your reputation:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Mentions of your brand and its products\/services, including possible misspellings.\u00a0<\/strong>Pay attention to both the positive and negative mentions.<\/li>\n
- Questions about your brand and its products. <\/strong>People often ask questions on social media outlets, where the public can see. Being ready to jump in and answer them quickly and professionally can boost your reputation.<\/li>\n
- Mentions of your competitors, as well as of their products\/services. <\/strong>After all, reputation management isn’t just about seeing what people are saying about you.\u00a0Where your competitors stand helps define where you stand. And someone\u2019s dissatisfaction with a competitor is the perfect time to jump in and build your own reputation.<\/li>\n
- Industry-related keywords:<\/strong> Where are conversations going in your niche? Are people looking for recommendations within your product category? Some of your most relevant industry-related keywords will include your location, if you have a brick-and-mortar. For example, a jewelry store in Boston will probably want to track the keyword \u201cdiamond rings Boston.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Responding to feedback about your brand<\/h2>\n
One of the most crucial parts of reputation management is knowing how to respond to feedback, You\u2019ll want to respond to every comment and mention you can, whether the feedback is positive or negative. Show your audience you\u2019re listening! Make sure to use helpful Facebook comment moderation tool<\/a> for social media to reply to comments more efficiently.<\/p>\n
Responding to Positive Posts and Comments<\/h3>\n
Responding to positive posts and comments is straightforward and satisfying.<\/p>\n
Sincerely thank the person who gave positive feedback. Make sure your reply is personal, and tag them when you reply to the post.<\/p>\n
Also, remember that user-generated content<\/a> like this is extremely valuable. When it shows an authentic image of the product\/service being used in real life, or gives genuine, clear and glowing reasons why the customer loves the product\/service, that’s even better.<\/p>\n
- \n
- People trust this user-generated content, because they trust peer opinions more than traditional ads and other messaging that comes directly from your brand.<\/li>\n
- So, consider reposting the positive feedback to your own social media accounts (Be sure to ask the originator\u2019s permission before using the content, and clearly credit them in your repost.)<\/li>\n
- \u00a0If the feedback was left in a comment that can\u2019t be reposted directly, turn that \u00a0comment into an original post, where you credit and tag the originator.<\/li>\n
- Check out more tips for gathering and promoting user-generated content<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"agig](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/agig-american-girl-post-by-mary-potts.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n
- Questions about your brand and its products. <\/strong>People often ask questions on social media outlets, where the public can see. Being ready to jump in and answer them quickly and professionally can boost your reputation.<\/li>\n
- Mentions of your brand and its products\/services, including possible misspellings.\u00a0<\/strong>Pay attention to both the positive and negative mentions.<\/li>\n
- Primarily marketing to Gen Z audiences? Build up a presence on Snapchat<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- Is your goal to create a series of informational or entertaining videos, or to showcase video testimonials? Create an account on YouTube.<\/strong><\/li>\n
![\"bird](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/bird-on-smart-car.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"smart](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/smart-car-response.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"slack](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/slack-status.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n