For many business owners, social media platforms can be intimidating and confusing. Most people would agree, though, that social media is not simply a fad and is here to stay. That being said, it is important for you and the growth of your business that you are able to use social media to engage your current customers, as well as potential clients on the most basic level. By using social media as a public relations tool, you will gain the ability to distribute your message infinitely farther than through other types of media, as well as monitor and respond to what is being said about your business. This article will address all of the basics you need to know to manage your reputation online.
Know where your business is listed online
Even if you have not submitted your business yourself, odds are that your business is showing up on a variety of different websites online. Many of these sites, which include directories, citations, and profiles, give users the ability to review and rate your business. In order to respond in the appropriate manner, you first must know where your business is being listed. The most effective way to do this is as follows:
* Use Google to search for your company's phone number. This will pull up all of the different websites that have your businesses phone number. Common examples will include Yelp, Yellowpages, etc. After you do this, repeat using your physical address. Record all of the different websites your company's information is being listed.
After you have completed the previous step, it is important that you look over all of these websites and make sure your business information is the same across all of them. The reason why we do this, is because Google Maps ranks local customers partly based on how consisted your businesses NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) is across the web. Good PR firms, like this firm, have stated that this is the first step they take when signing on a new client.
Continual Monitoring
Now that you have an idea of where your business is being listed around the web, you must monitor these websites to see what people are saying about your business and respond accordingly. People will often write reviews depending on if they had a good or bad experience. Either way it is important to show your involvement by responding. The major social medial platforms, like Facebook, Google, and Yelp all will let you respond to somebody's comment.
Conclusion
By simply knowing where your business is being listed, and responding accordingly when someone reviews your business, you will vastly improve your public relations efforts, and knowledge of how your business is being presented online.
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