How to Monitor Your Brand Online

Everyday, people spend hours on social media, blogs and online forums talking about their experiences with new products, advertising and customer service. They’re talking about brands – both large and small. Are they talking about yours? Here’s how to find out – and why you should listen!

Listen to the Online Conversation

The Internet has become the perfect place for potentially positive word-of-mouth marketing for your business. Not only can online conversations help engage customers with your brand and spread your message, they can also help drive traffic to your website.

The most important part is listening to what people are saying about your brand online. Before making a purchasing decision, most consumers trust the opinion of their peers over any statement published by a brand. Therefore, online reviews and mentions of your brand, products, or services go a very long way and can help or hurt your brand.

Facebook and Twitter both offer ways to search for brand mentions online. On Facebook, your searching abilities are limited to public posts (since most posts can only be seen by people’s friends), but on Twitter, you can find any tweet that has to do with your brand by typing in your brand keywords. You can even use a service like PinAlerts to let you know when people repin your posts. This gives you the chance to have a dialogue with them.

If want to take it a step further, listen to conversations with a social media listening tool. Topsy, Mention, Social Mention, HootSuite, Sprout Social, and many others can not only tell you how many people are talking about you, but can also break it down by sentiment – seeing exactly what is being said about your brand.

Monitor and Manage Your Online Reputation

How do you monitor and manage your online reputation? Start by following your brand on each social media platform and continuously analyze what you find. Are people pleased with your brand, or excited by and happy with your brand? Or are people angry or upset with your company? In today’s world, your reputation online is very important and directly related to your business success.

It is important to monitor and manage your online presence. Watch what is happening and engage with your consumers. Respond to comments and reviews. Thank your customers for engaging online. Be invested and be part of the conversation.

You can actually work with a review tracking service that helps you not only place reviews online, but also keep track of any review posted about your brand across the Internet. This gives you a prime opportunity to respond to what customers are saying about you online. In addition, you can set up Google Alerts to track brand mentions in the news, which can help you keep tabs on what outlets are saying about you.

Of course, start by keeping tabs on your own digital property – like your Facebook business page. If people aren’t happy – or if they just have questions – they’ll post there to let you know. Don't let comments go unanswered, which leads us to…

Invest and Engage Online

Don’t be afraid of negative feedback online. It is inevitable. Rather, make the best of the opportunity to provide that customer with a more positive experience. In turn, you may help mend the opinion they have shared of your brand.

Take the time to look into negative comments and reviews and respond with something like, “We’re sorry to hear you were unsatisfied with your experience. Please send us a private message to let us know more about your experience and what we can do to help make the situation right!” In this way you are not ignoring the comment or dealing with dirty laundry publicly. Instead, you are taking the conversation from public to private, and you are engaging with your consumer, letting them know that your business values their business. You are also letting others who may be watching, know that you care about your customers' experiences with your brand.

Let TotalCom Marketing Tuscaloosa and Huntsville Help

TotalCom Marketing, with offices in Tuscaloosa and Huntsville, Alabama has the experience and professionalism you need to take the hassle out of managing your online reputation. Grow your business. Maintain your brand online. Contact TotalCom today.