One of the most important things you care about when it comes to your business is your reputation. Even if the product you are selling is in high demand on the market, but you have a bad reputation, it is unlikely that you will gain the success you want. The most important thing for any kind of business is, of course, marketing. In today’s digital world, online marketing is paramount for the success of your business. When building your online reputation, you must think carefully about any mistakes you could make that could cost you and do everything in your power to avoid them. You need to establish a good reputation across the Web and pay attention to several factors, other than the comments and reviews. It is important to monitor everything that is going on about your business online and take all the necessary steps to avoid making mistakes that could cost you your reputation.
Not Monitoring Your Social Media Networks
A social media presence is extremely important for your business, since everyone is online all the time. Social media networks represent the best marketing there is, so, once you establish your presence on the Web, you need to monitor everything on your pages. You need to check for any feedback on your personal website or blog, so you can be aware of everything people are talking about relating to your business. Monitor feeds on your Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or and any other social media network on which you have an account. Another important thing is to set up Google Alerts in your name, in order to always be aware of everything people are saying about you on the Web, since they do not leave comments and reviews only on your personal pages. When you are aware of that, you can learn more about your reputation and, if it happens to be a bad one, you can easily know what it is you are doing wrong and what to do to improve that.
Not Replying to Comments on Social Media Networks
If you have established a good reputation online, do not think that you’ve finished your work on the Web. Quite the opposite; your work has just begun. Do not leave people hanging if they asked you a question on any of your pages or using a Tweet mention. Always take the time to reply to your current and potential customers, since they will easily place their trust in you and keep coming back. If someone leaves a positive review on your page, be sure to take the time to thank them. However, if there is a negative review, don’t ignore it. Reply respectfully and apologize if you think their complaint is reasonable. If you can consider offering them some discounts, do so as this will help you build your credibility and your customers’ trust even more. The one thing you should never do is reply rudely to negative comments and reviews, since you will lose both, your reputation and your customers. You should never be angry or defensive in your replies, even if you think your competitors are the culprits for the bad reviews.
Paying Someone for Positive Reviews
If you think that you do not have enough positive reviews on your social networks, you should never consider paying someone to leave those for you. If you want, you could ask your satisfied customers to leave a review based on their experience with you and your service. If someone who you are formally connected with leaves a positive review of your business, they should state that in the review so that it stays authenticated. Otherwise, it will seem as if you gave them some compensation so that they will help build your reputation. However, if they have already received some compensation in form of a discount of a free product, they should state that also, so that the people reading the review know the reason for that compensation. That way, people will be aware that you are open to giving discounts when you feel they are necessary, and that will only improve your business even more.
Leaving Fake Reviews to Undermine Your Competition
Another mistake that you definitely must avoid is leaving fake negative reviews for your competitors. You need to devote your time trying to build your reputation, not trying to undermine your competition by posting fake reviews and negative comments. Even if you think some of your competitors have left a negative review of your business on any of your pages, you must never go for revenge and do the same; you can flag those comments as inappropriate and continue to do your business in the honest and correct way. Build your own way to success and leave the others to try and do the same, without sparking any possible conflict.
Not Establishing a Social Media Policy for Your Employees
Establishing a social media policy is important for any line of business, since it can clearly state things that are acceptable for employees of any company to share online. You don’t want your employees to share classified stuff with anyone outside your company. Another thing that a social media policy can be good for is setting the rules for your employees’ personal behavior on their social media networks, that is, the photos and other updates they post that could affect your business negatively. The reputation of your employees is your reputation as well.
Reputation is extremely important for your business. You want people to see you as someone they can trust enough to do business with, and that is where your reputation comes in. You need a good social presence and you need to remember never to ignore your customers’ comments and reviews, since replying to them can only help you boost your business even more. Online marketing of your business means basically everything, so you must use it in the appropriate way to lead your business to success.
