Essentials of Greenville, SC Marketing: Online Reputation Management

Greenville is one of the largest cities in South Carolina, so if you plan on advancing your Greenville, SC marketing strategies, you have your work cut out for you. Online marketing, however, doesn’t necessarily follow the same rules—a single bad comment about your business could spread even before you find out about it. This is why reputation management should be an integral part of your campaign.

10 pro online reputation management tips for local businesses

Spread your Brand

Use social media to build your brand as steadily as you can – the best part about this is that its two-way communication system allows for customers to air their complaints directly to you, instead of having the charges fester elsewhere. This way, the channels for negative comments can be minimized from spreading anywhere in the internet to being corralled safely within your social media accounts.

Handle your Executives

You might also want to consider building a social media presence for the most influential people in your business, especially the executives. This way, you can manage or at least monitor how the public views them, because no matter how careful you might be with your brand’s reputation, these people’s actions also have a significant bearing on how people see your business overall.

Listen to Complaints

Don’t just hoard the complaints and negative comments (they could also degrade your reputation); respond to them. Here’s what SEO professional Chris Silver Smith has to say about the matter:

“When responding to online complaints or bad reviews, seriously consider that there may be some weaknesses in your process that need to be addressed — particularly if you get frequent negative feedback about a specific thing. Remember the adage that “the customer is always right”? Don’t be inflexible; come up with a creative way to give customers what they’re wanting without creating friction.”

 

Don’t Argue

Yes, you can make your point or even defend your business whenever someone trash-talks, but don’t get into an argument—you most likely won’t get out of it unscathed. Online arguments are click magnets just as much as an erupting fistfight in the middle of a busy street, so the more heated things get, the more people will look at your site, for all the wrong reasons.

Know how to check your online reputation for a few bad apples that could end up spoiling the bunch, and practice efficient reputation management at all times. Many internet marketing companies like Spark Local Marketing will tell you that your Greenville, SC advertising campaign will mean little if people have reservations about doing business with you in the first place.

(Source: 10 Pro Online Reputation Management Tips For Local Businesses, Search Engine Land)