Until the recent sweeping effects of social media, companies generally were in charge of their brand perception. Companies dictated to us regarding specific products, who the market leaders were, and the reliability of their customer service. Even awards given for things like “Industry Leading Customer Service” came from a closed-looped organization.
The modern combination of powerful search products and social media has created a newly empowered consumer who now dictates, as much as anyone else, how brands are perceived online. How can you position your brand for the best possible survival rate in this new online reality?
Create positive online ambassadors
If you take good care of your customers, they will have good things to say about you online. This offers you an opportunity to mold a happy customer into an online ambassador for your brand. Legitimate customer praise is always better than company generated buzz, so take this opportunity to interact with your customer and help inspire them to take the leap from customer to ambassador.
Don’t be afraid to jump into a conversation and just be real. Customers are just like the rest of us and they love to feel like they have a connection greater than just ID numbers. Be genuine and gracious and you are likely to build up a great group of ambassadors.
Never talk back on the defensive
A customer who feels passionate enough to speak negatively about your brand has likely had a bad experience. Unfortunately, this happens to even the best-intentioned business and is unavoidable.
When interacting online, it is important not to blindly defend yourself from criticism. Instead, just accept that things didn’t turn out well and put forth a message of apology combined with real action to back up your remarks. Never talk back in anger even if the criticism becomes heated; there is no positive outcome for a brand in an online war of words.
Think of yourself in a crowded retail store surrounded by potential customers and one angry one; starting a screaming match would not be productive when surrounded by potential customers.
Monitor those vanity searches
There are a number of tools that can be a great help in managing your online reputation. Google Alerts and Twitter Search are two that you should be using to on a very regular basis.
Watch out for incorrect information
User-generated content is powerful, and you could find yourself in a position where the majority of perception surrounding your brand is simply incorrect if enough people talk about it. If you encounter incorrect information it is important to counter it as soon as possible before it becomes assumed fact.
The online world is vast, but using tools available allows for a great deal of understanding about how your brand is perceived. Don’t be shy in engaging the conversation online about your brand; be respectful and honest in accepting praise and criticism alike and you’ll be in a good position to further the image of your brand.
Brian Littleton is the President/CEO of ShareASale.com, Inc., a retail-focused affiliate network for businesses of all sizes.
Download the entire FeedFront issue 6 here – http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue6.pdf
FeedFront issue 6 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article00date/2009/06
