Why You Should Care About Social Care
Kelowna Social Media Experts Offer Advice on Managing Your Business's Online Reputation
As a Kelowna marketing agency that specializes in branding, web design, and social media, at Twin Creek Media our clients often ask how they can boost word of mouth. Well, we've got two words: social care. Once upon a time, it was called customer service, and all a business had to worry about was having friendly staff who said, "Hello!" and selling sofas that didn't sink or fade, for example. Today, it's called 'social care' because customers are using social media to offer complaints, compliments, and to ask questions. And if you're not managing your online reputation, you could be in trouble. A single tweet, review, or Facebook post about a bad experience at your store can lead to disaster: in seconds, dozens, if not hundreds of potential customers could be turned off. What can you do?
Here are some tips to help your brand build and keep its solid name online:
1) Supervise what's being said
First, you need to know what people are saying about your business, particularly outside your own website or Facebook page. Online tracking tools such as Google Alerts will automatically send you an email every time your business is mentioned in the news, on a blog or in a review. Google Alerts is free, but you can also invest in some more heavy-duty programs such as Trackur and Naymz to scour websites for use of your company name. It's also a good idea to regularly check your listing in yellowpages.ca, for example, where people can now post reviews next to your listings.
- Use Google Alerts to find where your business is being mentioned in the news.
2) Respond to feedback
The good reviews are easy. Politely thank the customer for their feedback. That's all. Don't offer discounts, ask them to sign up for newsletters or to 'like' you on Facebook. Simply appreciate them rather than hound them so you can keep those good vibes going. As for negative reviews, they're a little trickier. Local search engine Yelp says, "Negative reviews can feel like a punch in the gut. For you founders and sole proprietors out there, a negative review can even feel like a personal attack." Yelp's tips for responding to negative feedback include waiting to respond until you feel calm, keeping it short and sweet (Thank you for your business and feedback), and seeing this as an opportunity to develop a positive relationship with a valuable customer. The last and one of the most important tips for managing your online reputation is don't post fake reviews. Why? 1) Most customers can tell they're not real. 2) You're going to look silly and lose customers.
The social media pros at Twin Creek Media can help you build and keep the reputation your business deserves. Contact us today to see how we can start spreading the word.