Social media and reputation management go hand-in-hand these days on both a person or company’s end or a customers end. It can help bring nothing but success one day and bring doom the next day. Social media is as innocent as the person behind it using it. Here is where you can find out how social media can be proactively used as a tool to re-brand yourself or company and how it can be used to take down a person or business.
How To Use Social Media For Reputation Management
There are obvious ways social media can make or break your reputation online. Using everyday social websites to promote yourself or company such as Twitter and Facebook is a great start for promotion. However, if you aren’t using these sites, you should always manage the type of press or comments others may be saying about you. Remember, it is always important to manage your digital footprint enabling you to identify any false or misleading information about yourself or company online.
Having A Social Media Plan
To have a successful online reputation, every business or person has to have a social media plan. They need to know what is and isn’t acceptable to post. Major business or celebrities employ dedicated social media marketers to do this for them, but for those who don’t may let loyal employees post updates and respond to customer’s questions. If any staff members or anyone who is close to you has your social media information, make sure they are trustworthy and understand how to post responsibly and respectfully.
Social Media Is Up All Day, Every Day. Use It To Your Advantage
When upset or curious customers take the time to ask a question or even report something wrong with a product or service over social media, answer them back within 24 hours. There isn’t much of an excuse not to answer their questions or respond to their complaint since social media is up all day, every day. If you react quickly, other consumers will watch how fast and professional you reply and watch what you say. Also, you can put out a fire that could potentially get dreadful with the customer posting on your social media page.
Crisis Management
Social media is a great place to go when you or a business is going through a crisis. Be as honest as possible, without jeopardizing any investigations. Remember, you may feel like admitting to something negative will hurt you or your business and it will; but, it will hurt the reputation of yourself or business less if you ignore the crisis altogether and let other companies run your reputation through the mud.
Successful Social Media Management Tips
Everyone can use the internet and social media, don’t let anyone ruin your reputation without you knowing it.
Tip 1: Tracking
Track primary keywords relating to your company or services such as a name, website address, products, senior employees and directors, close competitors and everyday expressions.
Tip 2: Set Up Accounts With Social Media Monitoring Tools
There are a lot of tools you can use such as:
- General Mentions
- Tracking Social Media
- Blog Monitoring
- Monitoring Twitter
- Tracking Lists
- Monitoring Forums
- Remarks of Senior Staff
Tip 3: Set Up Alerts and Searches
Setting up letters or RSS feed that will notify you when your keywords are mentioned can slice the time you take to search yourself or company in half. It works best if you have an RSS reader or homepage where you can keep all of the information and make it easier for you to read and review.
Tip 4: Set Up Your Own Social Media Accounts and Engage With People
You can’t monitor your social media reputation very comfortably without having any social media accounts. This way, when you are alerted to any comments or posts, it’ll be easier fro you to respond. Don’t just let the page sit there and collect dust and negative comments – engage with people! Always act quickly, be helpful and be pro-active, and you can set out any potential forest fires.
10 Tips For Protecting & Managing Your Reputation On Social Media
There are so many social media websites out there that can ruin a reputation and there are different ways one can protect themselves on different sites. However, there are ten general things you can do on all websites that can ensure that nothing bad can leak out about you or a company online to ruin your reputation.
- Make sure all social media profiles are set to private
- Only accept friend requests from people you know and trust and learn how to block offensive or rude users.
- Do a regular search for yourself/company online.
- Report any fake profiles you can find, especially if they are saying negative things that can hurt you or your business.
- Don’t join or ‘like’ any offensive groups or online content.
- Don’t post inappropriate content – keep it clean and professional. Social media can be an excellent tool for the promotion of your business or any career projects you are doing. Be smart.
- Delete unused accounts.
- Turn off your Bluetooth when not in use and change the name of your device. These will both help the risk of any exposure to your personal life.
- Disable geotagging on your mobile device.
- Don’t take, accept or forward nude images of someone under the age of 18.