How to Monitor Your Brand’s Reputation Online
[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]The perception your audience has of your brand can make or break your business.
You know it’s important, but how do you monitor brand reputation and what exactly should you monitor? Since there is probably a conversation happening right now about your brand, let’s review a few ways you can listen in.
Think about this
Every brand has a story to tell and it is important to make sure your story is being shared and discussed in a manner that benefits your business. You have a lot on your plate and monitoring your brand online may not be a priority… but it should be.
“Unless you have clarity of what your brand stands for, everything else is irrelevant.” – Mark Baynes
Let’s say you own a furniture store. You sell brand-name products from some of the industries best manufactures. You also have a team of six sales people who work the floor, the phones and network online. You want to make sure customer service is just as important as the quality of your products. The story your customers are sharing begins when they pick up the phone, hop online or hit a networking function. How do you know if they are truly satisfied? Happy and unhappy customers alike are using social media to praise or vent about your brand.
What to monitor
The first step to monitoring brand reputation is to know what is worthwhile to monitor. What types of inquiries will get you the best results? It might take a bit of trial and error, but here are some ideas to get you started.
- Your name or your brand’s name
- Any variations of your brand’s name (For example, I would want to monitor both “Kitzmiller Media” and “Kitzmiller Design” for my brand)
- Potential misspellings of your brand’s name
- Names of the most active/visible members of your company
- Brand centric products or services
- Specific marketing campaigns you’re running
- Custom hash tags created for your brand
- Your catchphrase, slogan or tagline
Monitoring tools
Once you have an idea of why you are entering social media monitoring and what you want to monitor, you’ll want to enter your searches into a tool that alert you every time they are mentioned online. There are plenty of brand monitoring tools out there, many of which are free to use.
Most of these brand monitoring tools work by allowing you to enter specific names, phrases and any related keywords relevant to your brand. Once you test the results, look for settings that send notifications directly to your inbox – set it and forget it.
I have a small business, does it matter?
My advice to you is start thinking big. You are growth oriented and when your business grows, you will want to have some experience monitoring your brand’s reputation online. Trust me, you will be surprised by the outcome, and you might even discover business opportunities you may have otherwise missed.[/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” enable_gradient=”true” color_overlay=”rgba(30,115,190,0.11)” color_overlay_2=”rgba(238,238,34,0.11)” gradient_direction=”left_t_to_right_b” overlay_strength=”0.8″][vc_column column_padding=”padding-4-percent” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
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People judge quickly. Does your brand capture the essence of who you are? Is it love at first sight? Contact us to schedule a comprehensive and completely free brand review.[/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”20″][contact-form-7 id=”7853″][/vc_column][/vc_row]