As 2022 rolls into 2023, it’s time to make your new year’s resolutions. Why not make them for your professional social media accounts, too?

Perhaps you’re just starting out with social, or your Instagram was last updated in 2019. You may be trying to steady the ship after bad reviews or feedback. 

No matter what your situation, we’ve got specific guidelines for setting goals for managing your reputation through social media.

Start Using Social Media Analytics

Analytics are essential information on how many people see a post, how they interact with it, and whether they’re clicking through to any link posted. This information can be precious for a professional account.

All major platforms, such as TikTok, Pinterest, or Facebook, have their own analytics tools. Some analytics are free, while others may require you to have a business account or pay a monthly fee.

With analytics, you can see which of your posts is really popular with your audience and when most people interact with your content. You can also see trends in your engagement over a particular period.

These insights can help you decide when and how to post to get the most engagement. These strategies can be especially helpful if another one of your goals is to gain more followers or increase the conversion rate on click-throughs. Keep track of your analytics in a spreadsheet to help determine if they improve over time.

If you have yet to seriously look at your analytics, make 2023 the year you start!

Track Your Mentions

So you already know when someone DMs you or mentions you directly on a platform. But it would be best if you tracked the conversations about you, too. 

Most platforms will let you set up specific search filters. Take a look at posts where people mention your business name- do they talk about you in glowing terms, or do they have consistent complaints?

You can do a lot with this information, from treating it as another stream of online feedback to reaching out to customers that have specific complaints that need addressing. Tracking this data can be tricky, but it’s worth it. The first step in reputation management is knowing just what your reputation is.

Use Scheduling To Keep Content Flowing

If you don’t even remember how to log in, you’re definitely not using your accounts enough! Make 2023 the year you finally start posting regularly, and use automated scheduling to help.

Most platforms have their own schedulers that allow you to send a post out hours and even days after you write it. If you’re not posting regularly, block out an hour on Monday, for example, to schedule your posts for the week.

Scheduling posts can be an indispensable tool for businesses. Drafting something ahead of time means multiple people can look it over to ensure the messaging fits with your brand and that the post has no typos. You can also schedule your posts to go out during high-traffic times, even if they’re after your regular business hours.

The most significant benefit that scheduling has, though, is it allows you to become an active social user rather than a reactive one. By setting up your own consistent stream of information, you’re the one in control of your company’s narrative.

There’s one caveat, though. Make sure to check your scheduled posts after a major news event. 

Develop Templates For Customer Interactions

If customers are using your social accounts to get in touch with you about complaints, you really need to respond quickly. Most customers expect brands to respond to a complaint on social media within an hour. At the same time, you also need to make sure your responses are positive and helpful.

Much like scheduling posts, drafting templates for responses to customer complaints allows you to be in the driver’s seat. Several people can check it over to ensure the tone is right. And while a ticked-off customer might get under your skin, using a previously drafted response means avoiding your emotions getting the better of you.

The statistics are clear: companies that respond to negative comments and reviews get higher ratings on review sites than those that don’t. Having clear guidelines and templates to follow makes responding easy and makes it a task that you can delegate to staff.

Make sure there’s leeway to adjust the template to the situation, though. No one wants to be on the receiving end of a canned response inappropriate to the event in question.

Keep Your Rating At Four Stars Or Above

Here’s a stat that may cause you to take a step back. About a third of customers only search for businesses rated four stars and above on review sites. That’s over 30% of a potential customer base that won’t see you if you’re rated a 3.9 or below.

Keeping a four-star rating is vital, then. But if your business is below that point, how can you change it?

Check your reviews to see if there are any that are clearly not written by customers. All four major review sites (Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor) allow you to report fraudulent reviews. If you’re a small business, even one jokester giving you a one-star review can drag your whole ranking down.

Beyond that, make sure you’re responding to real negative reviews, as mentioned earlier. Apologize for the situation, but don’t take the blame for things that aren’t your fault. Try to take the conversation offline so you can make appropriate amends.

If it seems silly to spend this much time on a complaint, remember that your real audience isn’t necessarily the aggrieved customer. Instead, it’s the hundreds and even thousands of people glancing at your reviews online and deciding whether to give you their business. They’re much more likely to be influenced by negative information, so make sure you’re responding.

Share Your Best Reviews

If you have a great review, though, share it! Feature it on your website where new customers can see it, but also use your other platforms to publicize it.

For instance, someone looking at your company’s Twitter might not even have seen your ranking on a review site. So, by tweeting a great comment, you make sure that the first review they ever see of your company is positive.

With more customers, especially younger ones, searching for a company on social media instead of a search engine, highlighting positive reviews on your socials is one of the most beneficial things you can do.

We all know that great customer reviews are far rarer than complaints. But by sharing the good reviews, you also help to encourage other customers who have had a good experience with your brand to do the same. It’s like a virtuous circle of reviews!

Track Your ROI

By now, you’re probably getting the sense that social media, even for a small business, is a lot of work. You’re right. Reputation management on even a few platforms can require several hours of work every week.

That’s why it’s vital to ensure that your time and resources investment is sound. Say you plan to follow some of these other steps over a three-month period. Keep track of the hours you and your staff spend on your socials and any additional costs like third-party post schedulers, social media ads, or tech equipment.

At the end of those three months, evaluate where you are. What’s the true cost of doing your own reputation management, including labor? What does it cost for your business to gain a new follower or get one more good review?

Most importantly, have you achieved your other goals with your investment of time and money?

Get Some Help If You’re Feeling Overwhelmed

If the answer is no, or you’re just overwhelmed by it all, you’re not alone. Business owners and managers have a lot on their plate, and understandably, reputation management might not be the best use of your time.

Small business owners or self-employed proprietors are often in a bind. Major platforms and review sites are absolutely vital for business, but the amount of time required to maintain even a small presence can severely cut into doing the actual paid work you do.

That’s why many companies are outsourcing some or all of their social strategy to reputation management firms. These places have been doing analytics, removing harmful posts, and tracking mentions for years.

Instead of starting from square one, why not have the experts help you out?

The Bottom Line

Fulfilling your social media marketing resolutions is easier with a team of experts on your side. The Reputation Management Company is a full-service digital marketing agency that can help with all aspects of your brand’s reputation management on social media. 

Get a free quote from us today and see what we can do for you!