Human beings are innately curious. They also do not like to waste their time or money. As a result, 80 percent of consumers conduct online research before they decide to patronize a business. Online resources give consumers fast and easy ways to vet businesses. If consumers mention your business in a digital discussion, the result will often show up in a search engine query result. It is not a matter of if it happens but when it will happen. As a business leader, you want to know what people think about your brand. In the digital age, flying blindly can have disastrous results. So how do you improve your social footprint in an ever competitive landscape?
Efficient Targeted Marketing: Where Are You?
Over time, as your company looked for ways to find new business, you may inadvertently left digital garbage — for lack of a better word — in your wake. Your organization may have experimented with a new social media platform that never made into your marketing war chest. Or, you may have abandoned a resource when it was no longer effective. Even though you no longer actively use these mediums, they still represent a part of your brand’s digital landscape. You should update these resources to reflect your current mission or turn them off. Another form of digital litter may come from third parties. Some websites compile information on companies to make their listings more complete. In the interest of protecting your brand, you should claim ownership of these unsolicited entries.
Current Social Assets: What Have You Done?
Today’s social media landscape has a plethora of channels. But, do the channels that you use relay your messages effectively? If your target demographic consists of woodworking enthusiasts, LinkedIn is not the most effective channel to reach them. You should also understand your market’s behavior intimately. As an example, according to the Pew Research Center, the number of Facebook users over the age of 65 has reached an all-time high. But, this demographic only represents about 30 percent of that group. If your business primarily consists of this market, you may not want to use Facebook alone to reach them. You need to evaluate how various social media outlets fit into your marketing mix to maximize your firm’s resources.
Reputation Management: What Are They Saying about You?
Social media’s influence on brand perception is too important to ignore. A negative social media presence can negate a firm’s best marketing effort. You cannot remedy this issue if you are not aware of it. You can start to investigate your online reputation by conducting a search engine query. This is an important task because it will show what potential clients see when they look for information about your business. You also need to consider whether you are the current topic of discussion in any of your markets. If no one is talking about you online, your social media presence is not helping your brand image.
In addition to knowing if your brand is a topic of conversation, you should also manage what your market is saying about you. This begins with providing a remarkable product or service, but you should also have a contingency plan if you ever need to put out a fire. As a brand manager, you should begin by finding an efficient way to consistently monitor what clients say about your company. You can do this by using social media monitoring tools. Businesses should create plans of action to respond to positive and negative publicity responses. By preparing yourself in advance, you have a better chance of creating a win-win situation that sheds positive light on your brand.
Social Media Analytics Resources: Are You Living up to Your Full Potential?
As social media platforms developed, they integrated useful marketing features. If you are not familiar with data-heavy analytics tools, statistical data can look like a foreign language. In a way they are, but they are much easier to learn. It is worthwhile to learn how to use these tools. Once you are familiar with them, they will answer burning questions you have about your online audience.
The internet and social media give the public an easy way to find quality businesses that will help them resolve their problems. As a business owner, you want to make sure that you present your offerings in the best possible light. You can do this by taking a survey of what footprints you have left on the digital landscape and taking actions that protect and improve your brand image. Modern businesses cannot afford to ignore the picture that consumers paint online about their brands. A targeted, well-orchestrated online marketing plan can help you protect your brand image and improve it.
