Search Marketing Archives

Search Marketing

Changes to Google in 2014

December 20, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Google updates its algorithm roughly 500 times per year, so we can expect some significant changes to Google in 2014.

Changes to Google are not uncommon. Very recently, Google completely overhauled their primary algorithm and introduced the world to Hummingbird. In 2014, we won’t necessarily see a move quite as significant (the last time Google implemented such an update was over a decade ago) but we can surely expect to see some changes to Google and the way we, as marketers, should adapt for it.

Focus on Conversation

If we know one thing for certain about Hummingbird, it is that it focuses on the conversational aspect of search. The assumption should no longer be that people are looking for, “Buy black winter hat cheap,” but rather, “Where can I buy a cheap black winter hat?”

The latter is referred to as a ‘soft search’ and this is the direction in which we need to focus our efforts as search and social marketers. Google made it clear when they introduced Hummingbird that it will integrate very heavily with Google’s social layer, which focuses on conversation in Google+ and other social networks.

In 2014, we should expect this focus to increase and optimize our content for these kinds of soft searches as opposed to focusing on keyword density (but that’s nothing new).

Focus on Social (Even More)

Expanding on that point about the social layer, changes to Google in 2014 will surely include an even greater focus on social activity. The reason why Google has transitioned to a soft search approach is because of how many people turn to social media in order to conduct their searches now.

When over 95% of people trust the recommendations made by friends and family, you know they are more likely to quickly post a question (like the winter hat example above) to Facebook while conducting their own research on Google. Considering links on social networks contribute (quite significantly) to improved search rankings – and we can expect that contribution to rise in the coming year – this should continue to be a focus for your brand in 2014.

Focus on Mobile

The world is going mobile. In fact, estimates suggest that by the end of 2013 (so, in other words, now) there will be more mobile devices than there are people on Earth. And by 2017, there will be an estimated 1.4 mobile devices on Earth per person. Suffice it to say that mobile is important.

As mobile devices become smarter and more user-friendly, people will increase their use of their mobile devices and slowly move away from their desktop. Not to mention the fact that in the developing world, mobile devices are much more readily accessible than desktops. One of the major changes to Google in the coming year is going to be an increased focus on mobile.

Ensure that your website, app and all of your content are optimized for mobile in order to ensure that it is easily shareable and discoverable. Over the course of the year, Google will be sure to incorporate mobile readiness into search rankings in a much bigger way.

Focus on Google+

The fact that there are still detractors from the platform is mind-blowing. This is a social network owned an operated by a search giant that openly tells people to focus on social media. What better place to share your content than on that platform’s social network?

Every year, Google+ becomes more important to search. Bit by bit, Google is transforming their business structure to become a more social company. Doesn’t it behoove your brand to be active on the networks they own?

These are just a few of the changes we can expect to come from Google in 2014. What will you do differently? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Why Your Facebook Posts Organic Reach is Down

December 19, 2013/by Corey Padveen

A lot of brands have noticed that their Facebook posts organic reach is down and many are asking why.

More and more, brands are noticing that their Facebook posts organic reach is down, and continuing to drop. This is not the first time companies have noticed a dip in reach and engagement, but there is something unique about this change: Facebook is acknowledging it.

Yes, it’s true. The reach of your page posts is not going to be quite as far without some financial stimulation. After all, Facebook is a business with a valuation roughly ten times its revenue, and they are going to have to find a way to even that out. So what is their answer? Make brands pay for their marketing efforts.

What is happening?

About a year ago, Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm underwent some changes and brands started to see a decrease in reach. According to Facebook, this was their way of providing people with the best possible experience and removing spam from individuals’ news feeds. This time around, Facebook is being much more blunt about what they are doing.

It is no secret that brands use Facebook for marketing efforts. Sure, the approach on the network is a much softer sell than say, on their website. But still, Facebook is a marketing and advertising medium, and the social network realizes that. So, another recent overhaul of the Facebook algorithm has resulted in this: brands have to pay to play.

The paradise of ‘free’ (and I use that word very lightly) marketing is over. With over a billion users, Facebook is no longer letting brands access these pools of potential customers without paying for permission. In a recent publication by Facebook, it was revealed that brands are going to need to consider investing in the network in order to reach fans in their news feeds.

Why are brands upset?

This is pretty clear. Brands have spent a tremendous amount of time and resources building loyal fanbases. Now, Facebook is telling them that that they are going to have to pay to reach that audience.

So naturally, companies are asking, “What was the point of building up my audience if I was just going to have to pay for people to see my content?” Well, that’s a fair point. But there are certain benefits to advertising that very few brands have taken advantage of to date; they’re going to have to now.

What’s so great about advertising?

Facebook advertising offers a whole selection of great targeting options. In addition to the usual demographics, brands can also choose to target users by device (FYI, mobile is the way to go), pages liked and even interests!

Even if you had built a large audience on Facebook, you still would not have been able to specifically target these users. All you could do was post to your page and hope for the best.

What’s more, advertising on Facebook is still very inexpensive. Currently, only 4% of companies on Facebook are leveraging the power of ads. Facebook needs to keep them affordable if they want people to take advantage of them. So, before prices skyrocket (look at Google AdWords for competitive categories) your brand should take advantage of the great advertising platform.

Have you noticed a drop in your Facebook posts organic reach? Tell us if you plan on advertising in the comments below or on Twitter!

Landing Page Best Practices for a Google AdWords Campaign

December 17, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Your landing page is the first impression people get of your business when they click on an AdWords ad, so stick to the best practices.

For anyone who has ever looked into running an AdWords campaign, it is no secret that Google tries very hard to filter out the “bad eggs” by forcing users to adhere to certain guidelines. That extends to landing pages. But even if your ad and landing page are approved, you still need to ensure that you have stuck to some landing page best practices in order to drive conversions with your campaign.

Your Homepage is Not a Landing Page

Technically, your homepage is a page on which visitors can land, but that does not make it a suitable landing page.

You should not be directing people to your homepage. Generally, people click on an AdWords ad because it relates to their search. You are advertising a product, service or bit of information about something relevant to the person searching on Google. Send them to the page that is most relevant to that search’s keywords.

If you expect people to start searching through your website after you have directed them to your homepage, you’re wrong. You’ll see a much higher bounce rate and lower time on site and pages viewed if you place the burden of finding relevant information on the visitor.

Include a Clear Call-to-Action

It might seem sales-y, but if you do not provide people with a clear means of getting in touch with you or letting you know that they want to take the next step, they won’t.

The process needs to be made as simple as possible. Show them a clear space designated for their email address, name, phone number or any other bit of information you want to collect. Again, make it as easy as possible for visitors to take the next step will result in a much greater likelihood that they do.

Give Plenty of Information

People hate being confused. There is a reason why Google best practices for ads does not let advertisers create ambiguous ads with lots of flash. (For example, an ad that reads, “Do you want to make money NOW?!?!” will certainly be rejected.) The same concept applies to your landing page.

Put yourself in the shoes of the visitor. You see an ad that looks enticing. You click on it. You arrive at a page with lots of big text and flashy images, but everything is cryptic in nature. Sentences like, “Looking for the next big thing?” and “You could retire when YOU want!” will scare people off. They scream scam.

Focus on providing people with as much information in the simplest format possible. They clicked on your ad because it appealed to what they were looking for. When they get to your landing page, it should tell them what you are offering and give them a chance to find out more. (See the CTA best practice above.)

Test Your Landing Pages

You should always test different landing pages to see what strategies work best. Little things like the placement of your call-to-action can make a big difference in your conversion rates.

Let each page remain active for enough time in order to determine what is working and what is not, then take what you have learned into account when creating a new campaign or landing page.

Allow for Social Sharing

When you include social sharing buttons on your landing page, you give your audience the opportunity to do some of your work for you.

If you are running a cost-per-click or cost-per-acquisition campaign, your costs can start to pile up. If you give your audience a chance to share your content to social networks, or invite their friends to sign up for your service, you are both cutting your AdWords costs down and creating brand advocates to create awareness for your new product or service.

Follow these landing page best practices in order to get the most out of your AdWords campaigns. The ad is just the first part of the process!

What other best practices can you think of when it comes to running a Google AdWords campaign? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Google’s Latest Patent: Taking the Social Out of Social Media

December 13, 2013/by Corey Padveen

One of Google’s latest social media patents promises to make the automated features of social media so realistic, you would never know the difference.

Late in November, Google received their latest social media patent. According to the filing, the new platform is designed as, “A system and method for automatically generating suggestions for personalized reactions or messages.” What does that mean? Well, for individuals and businesses, Google is now making it possible for you to be active on social media without ever being active on social media.

The program is designed to adapt to your voice and activity trends in order to react to posts, share content and essentially run your social profiles without you ever having to do a thing (once it has gathered enough information about your activity, of course).

No matter how you look at it, there are going to be two basic, extreme schools of thought: those that love the idea and feel as though it is going to make running a social business easier, and those that hate it. (NOTE: Those that hate it are probably the ones with an actual social business.)

The Secret to a Successful Social Business

It might not sound like a secret, but it seems so many people are still in the dark when it comes to understanding what it takes to run a successful social business: work. Hard work, investment and dedication are the most important tools you will need in order to succeed with your social business.

So many people know that social media is crucial to the longevity of their brands, but they keep looking for shortcuts. Shortcuts will not get you anywhere. Using a tool that automates your brand’s presence on social channels might work for Google rankings, but it won’t work for customers.

Bringing automation into the mix is exactly why so many people have moved away from conventional customer service avenues (like the phone and even email) and towards social. And how often are we shown examples of an “Epic Fail” when a brand sends out an automated response on Twitter? People want to interact with people. Even when it is a big brand, the human component that social media offers is why people continue to choose it over other means of communication.

Creating Your Voice

There are some forms of automation that work. Some brands choose to automate tweets in order to ensure that important messages are seen by the broadest audience possible. For those that use Hootsuite, some brands might choose to upload a content schedule for a number of networks. This is all fine once you have established your voice in a market. But it is the real-time responses and comments that people react to most.

Recycling your articles might be a great way of getting fresh eyes on old content, but if social has taught us anything, it is that real-time marketing is where you find your greatest success. People want to see that your brand is active on social channels. They do not want you to simply be present.

Running a social business is a serious commitment. No matter how many shortcuts are created, people are still going to want to talk to you. It is hard for any brand to call itself a social business when they are actively trying to avoid the social part of the term.

Would you use a product like this? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Why You Need to Focus on Facebook Mobile

December 5, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Facebook mobile is now more important than ever, and your strategy needs to incorporate Facebook mobile in a number of ways.

It is no surprise that Facebook mobile is now among the most important focal points of a successful social business strategy. Over 70% of Facebook’s users are accessing the network through a mobile device, and an increasing proportion of Facebook users are now only accessing the network via their mobile devices.

In order to capture the attention of this large and continually growing audience, you need to incorporate Facebook mobile into your strategy in a big way.

Some Interesting Facts About Facebook Mobile

A recent study by Shareaholic has revealed some very impressive data with regards to the importance of Facebook mobile.

In the last year, the referrals generated from Facebook (for businesses) have grown by 58.81% (year-over-year). How did they do this? Mobile.

As the chart below shows, referrals from mobile devices have increase a whopping 253.25% in the past year! What’s more the study finds that more than half of Facebook’s referral traffic growth has been the direct result of mobile activity.

As more and more people rely on their smartphones for everything from phone calls to everyday business and social use, the importance of a mobile component to your social strategy increases.

Below are a few ways you can take advantage of this growing trend and capitalize on the value of Facebook mobile referral power.

Create Mobile-Specific Ads

There exist some incredible features on the Facebook advertising platform that so few businesses are taking advantage of.

When you create a Facebook ad, you have the ability to target your ads to mobile devices. What’s more, you can specify the type of mobile device being used. Now, if you pay attention to your Google Analytics, and see that a large proportion of your mobile audience is coming from iOS, you know that you can create an ad on Facebook that targets only users with an iPhone! (Yes, this is actually something you can do.)

All it takes is a little tweaking and you will be able to really boost your success with Facebook ads click-through rates.

Create Mobile-Friendly Content

This is really more about creating content that is Facebook-friendly. Writing a long-winded story as a post is going to be annoying enough as it is for your fans on their desktop. Imagine how much more frustrated they would be if they had to scroll past in on their mobile devices as well. And do you expect anyone to click on images and see the full thing if it does not simply show up on their mobile News Feed? Probably not.

People want something fast and easy – that goes double for mobile users. Your content should have a clear message delivered fast and in an easy-to-view way. This way, you can encourage your mobile fans to click on links and read more if they are interested.

Share From Your Device

If you are using Facebook as a business – or even as a professional – then you should be using it to share content from your device. Post to your page from your mobile phone and check in at different locations. Generally, this increases engagement with your mobile audience, and should certainly be tried. This tactic also helps humanize your brand, and helps users relate to your company on a more personal level.

Try out some of these pointers and see if you can start capitalizing on the huge surge in mobile referral traffic from Facebook!

Do you access Facebook on your mobile device? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

5 Places to Share Your Blog Posts Every Day

December 4, 2013/by Corey Padveen

To increase your blog’s readership, you need to share your blog posts to a number of feeds every day.

While there are some writers that own a blog simply for the joy or writing, those of us with a business blog are looking for one thing above all else: readers. In order to increase your blog’s audience, you need to share your blog posts on a regular basis, and these five channels need to be on your daily list.

1. Your Business Pages

If you own a social business, then you undoubtedly have business pages on networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and others.

Your audiences on these pages are inherently your most loyal. They have decided to follow your brand and be notified of the content you are sharing, so why not give them what they are asking for?

Share your content to these pages for your highest CTRs as soon as it is published. Your audience is waiting for it.

2. Your Personal Accounts

It might seem obvious, but people often forget to share their content to their personal accounts. The mentality is that if it is for business, it should be shared to a business page. Yes, but also no.

First, you never know who might be interested in what you have to say. If you write an article and post it to your personal Twitter account, one of your followers might click on it because of the captivating title, read the article and subscribe to your blog. Right there, you might have found a new lead that you would have otherwise missed.

Second, as an employee or owner of a social business, you are your brand. People follow your company as they would follow you. The article was not written by ‘Brand X’, it was written by John Doe of ‘Brand X’. Employees are the best brand advocates out there. Take advantage of that.

3. Social Bookmarking Sites

This is good for both the short- and long-terms. Sharing your articles to bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon mean that they will be archived for a long time to come. You never know when someone might find it, bookmark it or even share it themselves.

Keep in mind that while your content might be most popular shortly after it is shared, it can still be discovered down the road. You’ll want it to be discoverable in places where longevity exists in much greater fashion than on some of the larger social networks (i.e. Facebook and Twitter).

4. Groups and Communities

If you are a member in industry-specific LinkedIn Groups, or Google+ Communities, then you are sharing and reading content that everyone in that group might potentially find interesting. When t2 employees first started sharing articles to LinkedIn Groups (particularly those in the social media realm) we saw our traffic more than double in the first month.

People join social groups and communities to find content relevant to the work they do. If you share it with them, they will be all the more likely to read it.

5. CommentLuv-Enabled Blogs

For those of you that are not familiar with CommentLuv, it is a WordPress plugin that welcomes all comments and links to be shared. Now be careful, this is not encouraging you to post spam. Spam is spam no matter what fashion it appears in.

Familiarize yourself with your industry’s blogs that have enabled CommentLuv and, when you find an article that is relevant to your most recent post, share a comment and provide a link to your relevant material. This is not going to come up as often as the other means of sharing your content. You are really going to have to do some work in order to find these blogs. However, when you do, be sure to leave a relevant comment (do not simply post a link – that’s spam) and share a backlink to your article. This is good for increasing readership and SEO.

Try out some of these tips and watch your readership and subscription rate increase. It is all a question of finding your most engaged audiences!

Where do you share your blog posts every day? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

10 Ways to Increase Your Twitter Followers

November 27, 2013/by Corey Padveen

In order to get your message out there, you are going to want to find ways to increase your Twitter followers.

While we are constantly told that it is all about quality over quantity, it is hard to deny that it looks good when a user has thousands of followers. It adds a degree of credibility and engrains within us this idea that they must be sharing interesting content if so many people have chosen to follow their account. So what can you do to increase your Twitter followers without having to use any black hat techniques?

Following these ten simple action items is a great way to help you start boosting your Twitter activity and increasing your brand’s Social Equity.

1. Fill out your bio.

Tell people about yourself. You are given a chance to let people know what they are getting when they follow with your bio. Don’t let it go to waste! It also adds credibility to your profile.

2. Be creative with your header.

When Twitter revamped their layout, they added header images. A lot of users leave this area blank, but a creative one can be a big reason why someone decides to follow your profile. Don’t let the space go unused.

3. Link your account with other channels.

You should have your Twitter feed on your blog (with an option to follow), it should be linked to your Pinterest profile, your Google+ profile and there should be a tab with your Twitter feed on Facebook. Basically, no avenue should be left unlinked to Twitter.

4. Embed your tweets.

It is very easy to embed your tweets on a blog post or your website. There is no reason why you should not be taking every opportunity to further promote the great content you are sharing on Twitter.

Read http://t.co/yc7nY3anBl to see how small businesses should use #SocialMedia

— t2marketing (@t2marketing) November 22, 2013

5. Take advantage of conversations.

You shouldn’t be tweeting to no one. Take advantage of the @ option and tweet to people. When people receive your tweets, they will be more likely to both a) engage with you and let their followers see what you are saying, and b) follow you.

6. Follow your followers.

Having a huge ratio of followers to following might work for celebrities or internationally recognized brands, but for individuals and SMBs, you are going to want to follow those who follow you. In addition to seeing great new content populate your feed, you will also expand your reach in the Twittersphere.

7. Use trending hashtags.

You can always see what hashtags are trending when you look to the left of your Twitter screen. If there is something that interests you, or something you can share, do it with the trending hashtag. There are thousands if not millions of people using and following that hashtag while it is trending. Increase your Twitter followers with its strategic use.

8. Keep your content fresh.

It is no secret that a lot of people and brands recycle their tweets. There is no shame in that, particularly when you are trying to increase clicks through to your content. But keep your content fresh. Change the wording and make sure that the links and content you share are going to still-relevant content. (Your followers should not be clicking to a link about buying trends from the 2008 holiday season.)

9. Ask questions.

Starting conversations of your own is just as important as joining in other people’s conversations. Ask your followers questions and get them to engage with you. People love sharing their opinions, for better or worse.

10. Keep it short and simple.

140 characters may seem short enough, but the truth is that if you keep it even shorter and simpler, you can improve your engagement. As sad as this reality might make you, people do not want to spend time reading through long tweets filled with multiple hashtags and links. Keep it to one of each and short enough that people can respond.

Try out some of these tips and see your follower count rise!

What are you doing to increase your Twitter followers? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Google’s Top Tips for Innovation

November 25, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Sometimes inspiration can be hard to come by, but Google has provided us with some tips for innovation!

In a recent Fast Company article about Google’s Chief Social Evangelist Gopi Kallayil, a few great tips for innovation were shared that marketers, business owners and, frankly, anyone can appreciate. Of the nine excellent principles shared, the following three were the most resonant.

Focus on the User

Perhaps the most important question you can ask yourself when creating something – whether it is a service or an app – is, “Will people use this?”

Too many people are driven by the potential for wealth that they lose focus of the importance of the idea. A ‘million dollar idea’ only exists if there are people out there willing to use your product. Focus on the end user and what they want and need, and the rest will fall into place.

Let Employees Innovate

Let’s say you are building an app. You’re seeing some traction and getting downloads and you think you have it all figured out. What we often forget is that we are sitting on a goldmine of potential and never breaking ground!

Google provides their employees with what they refer to as ’20 percent time’. For those of you not familiar with this concept, it is time that employees can take using company resources to work on passion projects and try to bring them to fruition. You never know what brilliant ideas the people sitting all around might come up with. Give them a chance to find out.

Fail Well

Playing it safe might be the right call from time to time, but if you have never failed, you have never dared yourself to try something innovative. And if you have failed, you have earned something very valuable.

The idea at Google is that if you are going to fail (and yes, you will fail every now and again) learn from your failure. If a project is not doing what it is supposed to do, scrap it. But maintain what works and build from there. Who knows, you might find that a small feature of a larger failed project becomes your next big project. It is all about pushing yourself and letting yourself and your brand take chances.

These are just three of the great lessons we can take from this session. Have a look at the full article here.

What are some of your tips for inspiration? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

How Much Does Social Media Cost?

November 13, 2013/by Corey Padveen

It is a misguided question often asked: “How much does social media cost?”

We hear it all the time. As marketers, a lot of us have even asked it or are asking it now. The question, “How much does social media cost?” is one that has surged in popularity as of late, but anyone who actively operates a social business knows why it is somewhat misguided.

So what makes the question misguided? The nature of asking why it is misguided might lead us to think that we are going to be given some convoluted, pseudo-existential response, but the fact is that it is quite simple. The question, “How much does social media cost?” is misguided because of the simple use of the term, ‘social media’.

What’s wrong with the term ‘social media’?

The buzzword on the tips of everybody’s tongue is ‘social media’. We know that it resonates when we talk to clients, and we bring it up because we know that clients expect to hear about it. While the media type is important, we have to step away from the term and look at the words and what they mean.

Social is self-explanatory. It is something that connects people. But media is plural. So basically, when we take a step back, we are saying, “How much does it cost to connect with people in different ways?” Now we’re getting somewhere.

What should the question be?

Now that we know that using the term ‘social media’ is misleading, we need to ask ourselves what the proper question is. We need to ask ourselves, “What is the cost of running a social business?”

A page on Facebook, boards on Pinterest and a Twitter account might look good, and they might be ‘free’ to create (if you don’t count the time it takes to create them) but what is the overhead of running a social business? This is where you have to think of ‘social media’ as more than a few networks – it is the new way of conducting business.

What is the cost of running a social business?

First of all, we need to stop thinking of social as MySpace, Friendster, Facebook and subsequent networks. Yes, these were new ways of connecting people, but the concept of social selling was nothing new. Blogs and email, even your website, were the original forms of social media; hubs in which people could connect. So what does it cost to apply that approach to your entire business?

First look at what departments are going to go social. If you are going to transition your customer service onto social channels – a more cost-effective, time-efficient and customer preferred way of doing business – how much will it cost per issues handled? Determine how much work will exist, how many people it will take to handle it and how much it will cost to employ those people. (NOTE: You might be the sole proprietor of your business. That’s great! But don’t sell yourself short. Your time is very valuable, and you need to figure out what your opportunity cost is to handling these facets of your business on your own.)

Most people are not looking at bus benches. They are spending hours a day looking at Facebook. They are sifting through billions of pieces of content on Twitter. They are conducting Google searches and clicking on results. They are looking for jobs on LinkedIn. You might hope to drive traffic organically. But these social channels need to make money, too. You are going to need to invest in your social business to see returns.

Advertising on social media is still young enough that it is affordable. Take advantage of that. Create highly customized ads that target your ideal candidates. Drive people to your website with your ads, or grow your brand’s market presence. Determine your budgets, as you have in the past, and test them to see what works.

There is no magic button or single answer. You might hear about a video that goes viral and figure, “I can do that, too!” You can try. But you might be sorely disappointed. Your social business is going to take a serious commitment, an investment and a new way of thinking.

So, how much does social media cost? Social media is your new business. It is not a standalone tool. Do not simply throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks. Take social seriously and invest appropriately.

Have you developed a Social Business Plan? See how t2 can help you put one together here.

Where have you invested most in your social business? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Op-Ed: You’re Only as Good as Your Worst Interaction

November 8, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Managing your reputation on social media is an integral part of any comprehensive social business strategy.

If you are not paying attention to the perception of your brand by audiences, then you are forgetting about one of the most important features that makes a social business successful. The management of your reputation on social media is a living organism, and you need to pay it regular attention.

One of the realities of doing business is that the larger we grow, the more likely we are to encounter that individual that doesn’t like our product, our service, or simply has a bad experience. And what happens then? Well, a recent study by ZenDesk shows that 95% of customers who have a bad experience tell someone about it, compared to 87% who shared a good experience. Maybe we just like to tell others about our suffering, but the fact remains that you can be sure that a customer who has a poor experience with your company is going to go out there and tell the world. And it is now much easier than ever before.

And so we come to the title of this article: your brand is only as good as your worst public interaction. What did an angry customer have to say about your brand? How did you handle it? Your reputation on social media – on every platform from Facebook to Yelp! – is going to be affected in a much greater way by how you handle your unhappy customers than how you handle the satisfied ones.

The Intelligent Traveler

Put yourself in the customers’ shoes. Let’s say you are planning a trip and you are considering staying at one of two hotels. Assume the prices and amenities are all the same. Well, if you are like 65% of online travellers, then seeing a management’s response to comments on a social channel like TripAdvisor would sway you to book with the responding hotel. (Google, January, 2013)

People like the idea of accountability, and when you avoid dealing with issues head on, you are hurting your reputation on social media. Owning up to your brand’s mistakes, and showing people that you are taking strides to both remedy situations as they arise and prevent them from ever occurring again goes a very long way.

Nobody Cares What You Did Right

When you are buying a product on eBay, and you see that a seller has a rating of 99% from 100 buyers, are you going to care about the 99 people that said, “Great job! Fast delivery! Recommend seller!”? Or would you be more concerned with finding that one comment that reads, “Item was not as described. Seller did not respond to questions. Would not recommend.”? Probably the second one.

You can do something right a thousand times, but that one time that things go wrong, people will remember it. It is here that you need to shine. It is easy to handle happy customers. How you handle unhappy customers on public forums is what is going to influence future buyers.

The Ostrich Never Dealt with Social Media

Burying your head in the sand while people speak out against your service or brand might have worked back in the days of phone and mail. But now, when people can reach out to networks of thousands, you had better be ready to respond. Clearly, ostriches never had to deal with issues on social media.

Have a plan in place for every plausible scenario. You need to know the Dos and Do Nots for handling crises and unhappy customers before you have to deal with crises and unhappy customers. The last thing you want to do is learn from your mistakes when your mistakes have already resulted in consumers making up their minds. Read up and do the research on the mistakes of others and devise strategies for managing your reputation on social media from these.

It might not be an ideal situation, but the fact is that your brand is only as good as it’s worst interaction on social media. This is where people are going to do their research; consumers trust each other, not your brand. But you can change that by properly managing your brand’s reputation on social media!

Find out more about becoming a social business and managing your reputation on social media here.

Do you research products and services on social channels before making a decision? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!