Managing Business Online Reputation

One of the most important reasons every business should be engaged in social media is to protect their reputation.  Being online and active on social media allows every business to have a proactive risk management strategy approach.

No single approach ‘fits’ every organisation.  Each individual organisation needs to develop a strategy to suit their specific needs including their governance and administrative structures.  However, whether you are a small or large organisation the importance of managing risk cannot be under-estimated where social media is concerned.  Whether it’s ‘comment trolls’, disgruntled customers or defamatory comments, each poses a potential risk to your business.

The following key points are all part of a proactive approach for any organisation:

Conduct an Audit

Not sure what has been said about your business or brand?  Conduct an audit as a starting point to provide some reference points around conversations that have already occurred.  Try doing a ‘google’ search on your business.  See what comes up.  This will provide some clarity around where your brand is being mentioned and talked about.

Monitor

To be proactive, each business needs to consistently monitor what is happening about their brand.  This may feel overwhelming at first due to the large amount of content online.  However, with the assistance of keyword searching consistently done over a period of time, this then becomes much easier.

Listen & Respond

Listening to what your customers are saying is paramount.  This means actually listening to what is being said, not making assumptions about what is being said.  Listening requires an action plan which is a cross between being proactive as well as being defensive and protecting your reputation.  Responding is an ‘art’.  Sounding like a PR message will not get you an effective solution. Be sympathetic and compassionate.

The results of negative online reputation can be potentially damaging. So become proactive and take charge of your reputation.  The more you know what is being said, the quicker you can respond and minimise damage.

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Tags: Business Online Reputation • Online Reputation • SMEs • social Media