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Set up your social media accounts? Check. Registered potential variations and parodies of your brand name and spokespeople to guard against online attacks? Check. So, what are the next steps in boosting your company’s online reputation?
Building and maintaining a reputation on social media networking sites requires more than just being present, it requires knowing who your key influencers are, what your competitors are doing, and what – if any – online buzz exists on your brand. The good news is that it’s easy to find out.
Step one: find your influencers
As in the real world, the digital landscape has key influencers which can build trust and authority among online communities. Typically, these influencers have a high level of social capital and can be politicians, industry associations, advisers and other ‘experts’ and consumer bloggers.
Start with identifying your key influencers by determining who is influential in the specific industry or topic area in which your brand operates. For example, compared to David Koch, Julia Gillard is not an influential person in wealth management.
While the Internet is teaming with tools and apps for finding your digital influencers, a number of free tools will serve as a good starting point: try Google Blog search, Facebook search and Social Bro. Remember, influencers are usually active across several platforms so don’t confine your search to one.
Step two: know your competitor
It is also useful to know what your competitors are doing on social media so you can both take advantage of their shortcomings and learn from their strengths to improve your own performance and make your brand stand out.
The best way to find out is to audit the major social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. This will quickly show you what your competitors are talking about, how often and how engaged they are with other influencers and their own and your (potential) customers.
Step three: listen for the brand buzz
Do people know who you are or what your brand does online?
As you audit your competitors, you should also look at what people are saying about your own brand. Real, objective information rather than conjecture or anecdotal evidence will help inform and guide your social media strategy in the right direction from the outset.
Once you’ve taken these three steps, you’ll be in a great position to begin really making your mark in social media.
Are you a social media newbie? We can help you get started: ask us for a copy of the BlueChip Communication online reputation checklist and read our ‘how-to’ blogs on setting up your social media accounts.
