Your Reputation Matters on Social Media!
Your Reputation Matters on Social Media!
I've said this before many times, your reputation matters on social media! The amount of social media users is projected to hit 3 BILLION, that's right BILLION in 2020. That's a little less than the world population! How crazy is that? How many people are talking about your brand right now? Probably not as much as you want them to right? How many people are writing reviews on Google, Facebook, TripAdvisor, GlassDoor, Amazon or eBay? Not as much as you want them to? Don't worry, this is a common issue for most brands! If you don't have a solid social media strategy, and if you have a solid service or product, you could still have people talking negatively about your brand.
Why Does It Matter?
People writing negatively about your brand on social media effects your business! Just ask business owners in the hospitality space on how their negative reviews slowed their business down by a whole. In fact, 94% of consumers will avoid a business if they have a lot of negative reviews. Everyone, especially millennials, look at online reviews before going to an establishment or buying a product from the owner. If you don't have a solid reputation strategy for your social media already, you will need one fast!
What Sites Do I Use?
It all depends on your industry. Hospitality, for example, would use TripAdvisor, Facebook, or Google. The finance industry would depend on Facebook, and Google for reviews. Some might say Instagram is also another review site, but they currently do not offer any ratings or anything of the sort for reviews like Facebook does. A lot of people like to use Yelp, but Yelp has a long history of hiding reviews from business owners that do not advertise with them. Apparently some business owners tried filing a lawsuit only to have it dismissed saying that Yelp has "the right to manipulate reviews".
What About Those Fake Reviews?
Speaking of manipulating reviews, there are places where you can get bots to write fake reviews or misleading reviews. Facebook and eBay have been come down by the UK's Competition and Market Authority (CMA) to do more to stop fake reviews. A simple Facebook search for buying reviews can show you how many businesses offer this service of buying misleading reviews to any page. While, I don't think there is anything wrong with asking someone who loved your service to write a review, I do think business owners should use caution and make sure you are asking people who've used your service or product before, and not random people who haven't. Asking family members or close friends who've never bought from your business, isn't going to work. Google actually takes down these reviews.
How Can I Get People to Write Reviews?
There are a few ways actually! Surveys are a great way to get people to write about you! You can also get people to write about you on Facebook if you have already connected with them. Writing something along the lines of "Hey! We saw that you bought our product! Did you like it?" Tell us what you think!" If they say yes we loved it! Tell them to write a review on your page. If not, then ask them what is wrong. Solve the problem before the write the negative review! I always tell people if they have an unhappy customer, client, or patient try to give great customer service and call them if you can. I always find that calling the consumer is more personable than writing an email or sending them a message. Of course your social media manager can gather their info in a message and send it along to the person in charge.
I Have No Idea How to Do This! Where Do I Start?
Need help getting a good reputation? With over seven years of reputation management experience on social media, SPB Productions can definitely help! We do consumer outreach, create surveys, and video testimonials to make sure your brand is always looking good on social media! If you aren't seeing what people are talking about you on social media, you will need to! Interested? Let's get on a call so we can start a conversation!