I have traveled around this planet of ours and I have seen a lot of things first-hand that would make any CEO cringe. I have seen the effects that one negative Facebook post can have on a small business, and I have seen the chaos that occurs in a large business when a customer’s tweet goes viral. It is ugly, but it can be prevented.
Your brand is something that you work on constantly. The ideal situation is to have your brand so recognizable in the marketplace that it enhances your marketing and keeps you as an industry leader. But your brand is also fragile and it can be destroyed by something as simple as a disgruntled client. If you learn how to protect your brand on social media, then you can preserve revenues and maintain your current growth path.
Monitor Your Social Media Presence
I once had a client come to me, desperate, because he said that someone on Twitter had said something and now his clients are disappearing. The client had no presence on Twitter and he had no idea what was going on, so I checked it out and a disgruntled customer had posted a pretty damaging product review that got picked up by Twitter users all over the world.
If you get surprised by social media, then you have no one to blame but yourself. Hire a professional reputation management firm to monitor your company on social media, or buy some monitoring software and do it yourself. When your company is mentioned on social media, you must know about it or you will suffer the consequences.
Never Let a Negative Comment Go Unanswered
Another reason the situation got out of control for the client I previously mentioned is that he never addressed the issue directly. Most disgruntled customers get Internet muscles and spout off on the Internet, because they don’t think the companies in question will respond. When the companies do respond and offer to solve the situation, then that goes a long way towards minimizing damage.
Flood Social Media with Positive Press
I am going to let you guys in on a little reputation management secret. A lot of the positive press you see for a company on social media is coming from the company itself. It can sound sneaky, but companies should be allowed to defend themselves from people who take shots on the Internet and then hide behind their keyboards.
If your company is not on every available social media platform, then you should be. Hire someone to get you on social media and then flood the Internet with great things about your company. Your positive press may bury the negative comments, so deep that they will not even be seen.
Make Friends on Social Media
You will always have people who can see through your planted positive press and challenge your company’s brand strength. That is when you want your social media friends to ride in on their white steeds and save the day.
Invite your satisfied customers to join your social media pages and maybe reward them with pricing discounts or something. The important thing is that a hail of satisfied customers shouting down one disgruntled customer is a great way to preserve your brand on social media.
Do Not Ignore Social Media
The Internet is important and social media can affect your company’s brand strength and revenues. Do everything you can to protect your brand on social media platforms and you will see your customer base expand and your revenues go up.
Photo Credit: Jason Howie
