No matter how successful or prestigious your company is, you need to pay close attention to properly managing its reputation. Because customers make purchase decisions based on a company’s reputation, it is critical to ensure you are putting your business’s best face forward. Social media networks such as Instagram + Twitter also make it easier than ever for customers to keep close tabs on your company’s actions. 

Does the idea of brand management sound new and intimidating to you? Don’t worry. The leading Pittsburgh web design agency is here to offer a comprehensive guide on managing your company’s reputation.

Why Reputation Management on Social Media is Important

Customers Are Ready to Call Your Company Out Online When Their Expectations Aren’t Met

Thanks to the rise of social media, consumers can hold brands accountable for unsatisfactory products or an unresponsive customer service team. You might have left a negative review on a company’s website yourself if the product they sent you was malfunctioning or if you had to deal with a rude customer service associate. When it feels like our needs haven’t been met or we have been treated poorly, we want someone to validate our experiences and address the issue. 

Here are some quick statistics on what leads consumers to call out brands over social media:

• 60% of users will call out brands if they feel they have been dishonest or deceitful
• 59% of consumers will complain about poor customer service 
• 70% of users who complain about a brand on social media hope to raise awareness among others about its misdeeds 
• 55% of consumers want an apology or solution from the company they call out on social media
• 57% of online complaints are in-regards to experiencing rudeness from an employee
• 47% of customers use social media to publish complaints about a company’s products or services 

Understanding both the reasoning behind customer complaints as well as the main platforms they are aired on is important for managing your company’s reputation and online presence. 

How You Can Successfully Manage Your Company’s Social Media Presence

Pittsburgh web designer Responsival offers a comprehensive guide to managing your business’s online presence

If you don’t learn how to properly address these complaints, you can end up harming your company’s reputation further. While it may be tempting to simply hide or delete negative comments on your Facebook or Instagram profiles, this can actually further aggravate your consumers. That being said, leaving a lackluster or unhelpful response can make your customers even angrier than ignoring their comments altogether. 

So how do you properly address a negative comment without digging yourself into a deeper hole? 

1. Respond to the comment in a timely manner

According to a study conducted by Edison Research, 42% of consumers expect a response to their comment within 60 minutes. 32% expect a response in less than 30 minutes. 

Monitoring your company’s online reputation is critical for spotting comments + responding to them in a timely manner. Social media monitoring tools offered by companies such as Sprout Social + Hootsuite allow you to keep track of when your company is being mentioned online and what people are saying about it. 

2. Emphasize that you are listening to what they are saying

People are intuitive and can easily recognize disingenuous comments. Writing something vague like “Sorry to hear. Hope you still come by again!” does nothing to validate their concerns or make them believe you are interested in offering a solution to their complaint. 

Instead, saying something along the lines of:

“Dear X,

We are sorry to hear that you experienced XYZ. If you could please send us a private message or call us at 1-800-COMP we would be happy to further discuss what happened.”

You should also avoid getting defensive, even if you feel the comment was unnecessary or an inaccurate reflection of your company’s capabilities. Adding a human touch with a sincere apology can help calm down angry customers. 

3. Offer a solution 

Offering as a solution such as a private channel where customers can further discuss their bad experiences can help you address their issues + improve your business for the long-run. In your response, you can also emphasize your appreciation for their feedback as well as your interest in ensuring another incident like this doesn’t happen again. 

Fake Reviews — Are They Worth It?

It Can Be Tempting to Try to Boost Your Reputation with a Fake Review

Because negative reviews are so prevalent online nowadays, 95% of consumers actually expect to see them on your social media accounts or website. As a result, they may suspect you are deleting reviews or creating fake ones if they only see positive ones for your company. Furthermore, seeing negative reviews can actually lead to an 85% increase in your company’s conversation rates. Therefore, you should avoid creating fake reviews to boost your company’s reputation, as this can actually greatly backfire against you. 

Need extra help managing your company’s online presence? Contact leading Pittsburgh web design agency Responsival to get started with a custom brand management strategy.