Regardless of what industry your business is in, your current customers and potential customers are using social media on a daily basis. They are interacting with their favourite brands through social media and looking for new intriguing ones to follow.
If you’re not speaking to your target audience on a social media network, then you’re missing out on a great opportunity to connect. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter are powerful marketing tools that can bring remarkable success to your business. Social media is a key player to your online reputation management. By leveraging the unique potential these platforms provide, you can create a great social media reputation management strategy that will help you raise brand awareness, build your brand identity, improve your overall online reputation, and rank higher on search engines.
But it’s not easy. With all the social media noise, it’s hard to keep your audience engaged and connected to your brand to improve brand sentiment. So how can you create a successful social media reputation management strategy and enhance your brand image on social channels?
Here are 3 things you should try…
3 Ways to build a social media reputation management strategy
1. Start showcasing customer reviews
Company reviews represent a seller’s trustworthiness, reputation, and customer experience. Online reviews provide social proof, and your customer’s voice is the most useful tool you could ever use to build your online reputation. Indeed, today’s consumers rely on recommendations from their friends and family, but also from influencers and other consumers.
Did you know that 80% of consumers said they’d be more likely to purchase from a brand if they saw positive user reviews on the company’s Facebook page? Showcasing your customer reviews directly on your social profiles can make a huge difference in building trust and engaging with your audience.
Trustpilot’s Facebook integration tool allows businesses to share their customer feedback on their account, and let their Trustpilot rating speak for itself!
But as most social media experts envisioned a couple of years ago, social media is changing, and visual content is growing considerably, with 20 times more engagement on posts with pictures, and 94% more views on articles with images in 2017. And as visual content marketing continues to grow, Facebook posts with images bring on average 2.3 times more engagement than regular posts without any form of visual content.
Most customers now interact with businesses on social channels during the different stages of the buying journey. That’s why sharing online reviews on social media can help your content stay personal and up to date, while helping you stand out from the competition and build your online reputation.
To do just that, Trustpilot’s Image Generator tool lets you combine images with online reviews in order to help you get more visibility both on social media and online.
The Image Generator helps you build a strong visual content strategy while still targeting a wider audience, driving more engagement from users, increasing click-through rate, and building a strong online reputation.
2. Engage with your social media audience
Easier said than done.
How do you know what your audience loves? Facebook, Twitter or Instagram analytics can help you understand what type of content your followers like to see on their feed.
Regularly check your analytics to get inspired, and try to share more of what your audience would like to see: more product pictures or videos, more how-to guides, more industry trends, more testimonials, etc.
We also recommend using Trustpilot’s Review Insights tool to get a good understanding of what works within your business, and identify key areas of development. By highlighting your main pain points, you’ll be able to address certain problems on social media, and engage with worried or angry customers!
Trustpilot’s Review Insight tool
Yes, listening is important, but asking is just as essential in order to build a positive social media reputation, so do not hesitate to ask questions to your audience!
You can also use sentiment analysis to answer some of your most frequently asked questions, such as shipping costs and time, discount codes, customer service, opening hours, etc.
Finally, don’t be afraid to encourage and inspire your community, share any content you might find relevant to your brand ethos and concept: videos, news articles, your own blog posts, infographics, or reports.
Remember, the more insightful and valuable content you share with your audience, the more likely they are to respond! And the more engagement you get, the more trust you will build. Great social media reputation management also starts with great content.
3. Start leveraging customer advocacy
Customer advocacy is a state of marketing where customers are the spokespeople for your brand. It is different from influencer marketing, and can take the form of a customer’s video testimonial, images of them using your product/service, or even reviews. User-generated content triggers a high level of emotion from the customer, making it a leading marketing tactic by major companies like Daniel Wellington, IKEA, Coca-Cola, or even Sweaty Betty.
Daniel Wellington promote their products through their customers’ pictures on Instagram and Facebook
TigerGemstones regularly post their customers’ pictures and Instagram stories on social media
Leveraging customer advocacy is an excellent way for brands to use their most passionate customers to increase brand awareness, stand out from the competition, and build a great social media reputation.
A Factory360 research found that 57% of small businesses say that having a relationship with their consumers is the primary driver of repeat business, and with 84% of consumers admitting they do not trust advertisements anymore, it’s becoming clear that consumers are now seeking third-party validation more than ever when making an online purchase.
That's why you should be lveraging social proof on social channels.
Today, 76% of individuals admit that they’re more likely to trust content shared by “normal” people than content shared by brands, and customer advocacy has been shown to increase marketing effectiveness by as much as 54%.
Engaging with consumers takes more time than ever before, and it’s getting harder for retailers to convert visitors into customers. The growing lack of trust means consumers are no longer interested in brands that try to sell hard. Today’s consumers are looking for customer-centric brands, that create communities of brand advocates by rewarding loyalty.
Customer advocacy is a never-ending process. It is the best way for brands to engage with their customers, reinforce brand loyalty, and build a great social media reputation thanks to word of mouth.
It’s time to get started!
Building a great social media reputation management strategy is hard work, but it will pay off in the long run. If you have any more questions before getting started - tweet us at @Trustpilot using #onTheBlog. Otherwise, download Trustpilot's free report below, and find out what impact leveraging reviews as UGC could have on your online reputation.
