This type of analysis is essential to gauge public opinion of a business’s brand. Companies want to see the impact they have on consumers, primarily through outreach online.

There are numerous tools available to help organizations perform this type of assessment. However, some are better than others.

Here are seven helpful tools that will assist your business with opinion mining and sentiment analysis.

Google Alerts

With Google Alerts, businesses can essentially eavesdrop on conversations that are being had about them on social media.

They can see how potential customers view their brand and its connection to the business.

Using Google Alerts allows organizations to track their online presence and view comments and likes that show support and satisfaction or complaints that signal areas in need of improvement.

Google Analytics

Another Google tool, Google Analytics, allows businesses to discover what about their brand is attracting consumers and how they can capitalize on it.

Google Analytics allows you to see the exact amount of visitors that have found your website, learn which exact terms your visitors type in search engines, and optimize keywords so that your site will hopefully rank higher.

Facebook Insights

If a business’s Facebook page has more than 30 likes, it can take advantage of Facebook Insights.

With Facebook Insights, organizations are able to see their page’s number of fans, number of likes, and page views.

More importantly, it also allows you to view fans’ demographics and who of them are daily active users, letting you to understand your social media audience better and craft more specific posts that cater to them.

Tweetstats

With roughly 950 million websites on the Internet, you are guaranteed to face stiff competition from other business. Tweetstats can supply information to help you evaluate your own progress and how you stack up against your competitors.

With Tweetstats, marketers can track and measure specific aspects of Twitter accounts, such as average number of tweets per day, growth of followers, and frequency of replies.

People Browser

If you really want to see the impact of specific marketing campaigns, People Browser is an amazing tool.

Not only can it find every mention of your brand, industry, and competitors and analyze sentiment, but People Browser can also compare the number of mentions before, during, and after campaigns.

Brandwatch

Brandwatch is another incredibly useful tool that provides its users with detailed information from over 70 million traffic sources.

Additionally, Brandwatch can review the tone of the posts it’s scanning so that businesses can examine how potential customers respond to certain types of content.

Semantria’s Lexalytics

People misinterpreting each other’s sentiments online is not a rare occurrence. A mean or sarcastic comment can be misconstrued as positive and encouraging.

Fortunately for businesses, Semantria’s Lexalytics breaks down each word in every sentence and assesses its sentiment based on the context of the post.

Semantria then compares that post with other related content to reach a more definitive conclusion.

Opinion Mining and Sentiment Analysis: Going Forward

All of these tools can be extremely helpful when it comes to building and monitoring your brand.

Be sure to keep them in mind when focusing on opinion mining and sentiment analysis.

Do you have any other questions about opinion mining or sentiment analysis? Can we assist you with your brand in any other way? If so, please contact us so we can help!

The post The Best Opinion Mining and Sentiment Analysis Tools for Social Media appeared first on ReputationResults.

Welcome to the modern Digital Age, where technology and the Internet reign supreme. It has gotten to the point where your business’s success depends on navigating the digital marketplace.

This means that you have to take your business’s branding strategy seriously. In fact, 87% of executives rate branding reputation as the most important risk for their business.

Your brand should clearly state your values and your attitude as a business. Being genuine in this matter will develop and maintain a loyal customer base. How do you build up that brand presence, though?

Well, it’s important that you stay informed on the best practices for brand development. The good news is that you have come to the right place by reading this article. Below you will find three of the best ways to develop that brand presence through social media alone.

Keep Your Tone and Attitude Consistent

Across all of your social media accounts, you need to make sure you are presenting the same branding strategy. This can look like anything, as long as it is genuine.

Your brand might be lighthearted or even a bit irreverent. Perhaps your brand makes more sense to be thoughtful and politically active. Whatever attitude makes sense for your brand, make sure you stick with it.

Developing a loyal customer base means you have to present your brand as a constant. They need to be able to rely on exactly your sense of tone and style.

Develop Your Brand Presence with Networking

Social media is supposed to be a useful tool on many levels. For your business and brand, you need to consider it a marketing tool.

There are constantly shifting social media trends that businesses just like yours take advantage of. While this can be somewhat overwhelming, it is important to stay as informed as possible.

Start considering your local community and surrounding businesses your brand can relate to. Use social media to connect with them, and try to start growing a digital customer base together. Having business partnerships like this will only further your brand’s reach.

You should also do your best to use social media accounts to stay updated on current local issues and events. If customers see that you are genuinely concerned about their well-being, they are will be more likely to remember your brand when the time is right.

Maintain a Positive Online Reputation

A brand presence is pretty much worthless if its reputation is a negative one. Customers tend to rely on online reviews to determine whether a business is worth their time. Make sure you don’t get left behind because of this.

Online reviews about your business and brand are crucial to your business’s success. Studies show that 90% of consumers read online reviews before considering a business.

When integrated properly and regularly maintained, social media is a great tool to emphasize your brand’s dedication to customer service. Customers will notice how willing you are or are not to help them out when you interact with them on these platforms.

We know how important your online reputation is. Check out our reputation services to enhance your brand’s development today.

The post 3 Ways to Increase Brand Presence Using Social Media appeared first on ReputationResults.

Looking to grow your business? Want to take your online presence to the next level? It can be difficult to gain a customer’s attention online.

New algorithms used by social media platforms and web searches can keep your business from getting noticed. What you don’t know CAN hurt your business.

The key is to know the fastest growing social media trends to get your brand to the top. Read on to learn about 7 of the fastest growing social media trends to grow your brand.

#1 Influencer Marketing

Would you like to get $6.50 back from every $1 you invest in social media marketing? You might want to try influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing has an extremely high ROI. This is often because a blogger’s followers look to them for pointers and suggestions. This trust works well when creating marketing returns. But what is influencer marketing exactly?

Influencer marketing is the process of recruiting and contracting social media influencers to promote your product. Influencers will create content tailored to your specifications for a set rate of compensation. This compensation may mean free product, an agreed upon rate. Some social media personalities with smaller followings may be willing to work with your brand for product only partnerships. Much of this will depend on how much product you are offering and the versatility of your brand.

Social media influencers care deeply about maintaining authenticity on their feeds. If you have a brand that’s an easy fit within their niche they will be more likely to partner with you.

For instance, a fashion or beauty blogger will be more likely to partner with a clothing brand for a post than an upcoming marathon event. Food bloggers are more likely to partner with a meal delivery service than a baby/infant clothing brand.

Because your product may seem on brand, bloggers will be more likely to take less than they would for a product that won’t resonate with their followers.

#2 Adjusting to New Ad Guidelines

The rise of influencer marketing has made way to new rules and guidelines for sponsored posts. Instagram, for example, now requires that all sponsored posts use a new feature denoting paid content.

Previously, influencers were required by the FTC to denote their brand with hashtags. Influencers could satisfy these requirements by simply adding the hashtag #ad or #sponsored’ in their post.

Facebook-owned Instagram now requires influencers to tag sponsored posts with a special header. This lets their followers know that the post has been paid for and is not an unpaid recommendation from the influencer.

This step is meant to provide more clarity and transparency in social media. Be sure to follow all guidelines for social media promotions to avoid getting your post flagged by the platform.

#3 Data, Analytics & the Facebook Pixel

Facebook analytics are still some of the most valuable information one can possibly use when retargeting customers. These data points will recognize any recent trend that may be present in your brand’s history. They can also look for more examples of trends in the data. This could mean median income, interests, and level of education.

Using the data mined from the Facebook Pixel can also be helpful in getting your most interested audience to pull the trigger on a purchase. This is a process known as re-targeting.

You can use the info your Pixel collects from customers to determine who is most likely to make a purchase.

This can tool can be tailored to show your add to people who have recently visited your website or have added an item to their cart but have not made a purchase. Showing ads to people who may have been close to making a purchase can help you get your ads seen by your most relevant audience.

#4 SEO

This recent trend has it all. SEO is sure to be one of the new trends with staying power. SEO optimizes your website to rank higher in a search engine response. SEO does this by making your website appear to be an authority on search-friendly keywords.

Search engines rank websites based on how much content they have on a given search topic. The more topic you host via SEO blogging and content, the higher your page is likely to rank!

SEO is one of the easiest ways to promote your website. Adding a blog is easy and is sure to make your website easier to find for your customers. Need help? Brad Russell can help your small business.

#5 New Platforms

Another one of the fastest growing social media trends is new platforms for content. We’ve seen social media platforms come and go in recent years. (Remember Vine? Periscope?) Some social media trends have come and gone or have been absorbed as new features of an already established social media giant.

We can see examples of this in the media landscape with the addition of ‘stories’ to Instagram and Facebook. Stories were previously associated with Snapchat.

#6 Bots & Automation

Another one of the fastest growing social media trends is automation. Using automation is easier than ever. If you use certain internet browsers, you may be able to use automated extensions to like and engage with relevant accounts.

This helps grow your social media influence by getting your account in the activity feed of potential customers. You can tailor your bot’s settings to like posts tagged with hashtags relevant to your target demographic.

#7 Fastest Growing Social Media Trends: The New Frontier

The most important thing to remember when planning your social media is that the social media landscape is constantly changing. For more on the biggest trends of 2018, online reputation defense, and the fastest growing social media trends, check out our blog.

The post 7 of the Fastest Growing Social Media Trends to Grow Your Brand appeared first on ReputationResults.

Studies show 58% of consumers follow businesses on social media.

In today’s digital age social media is one of the best places to promote your brand. But what are the best ways to reach your audience, and how should you go about it?

Here are 4 ways you can use social media to boost your brand and reach potential customers.

Use Visual Branding

Brand development doesn’t stop at your logo and company name. A great brand also has a signature look and feel that extends to all the content they produce.

Sharing signature visuals across social media is a great way to visually brand your business. Visual branding ensures your audience is delivered a uniform experience that reflects your branding as a whole.

When using social media to share visuals, make sure they’re recognizable as yours. A signature color palette, consistent use of certain filters, and even visual composition can all work in tandem to present a cohesive brand no matter the platform you’re presenting on.

Develop Your Voice

Your brand’s personality should shine through no matter the medium, but social media allows you to promote your brand in a very singular way. It lets you develop your brand’s voice like no other medium really can.

A good brand voice will engage your customers and forge solid connections between them and your brand. And engaged customers are paying customers. An engaged audience is 90% more likely to pull out their wallet and buy your product or service.

The 3 factors to consider when developing your brand’s voice are:

• Company Culture
• Audience
• Authenticity

At the core: know who you are, who you’re talking to, and be authentic to both.

Leverage Influencers

With the rise of social media has come the rise of social media influencers. Those people on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook with tens of thousands of engaged followers.

Creating killer content to promote your brand is imperative to growing your audience, but it’s not the only strategy up your sleeve on social media. You can also leverage the audiences of influencers in your industry.

There are a few ways you can go about this. You can tag them in posts or actively approach them about a sponsorship or collaboration.

It may take time to build a relationship with influencers. But once you establish them, they can be a marketing gold mine.

Drive Engagement Personally

Social media lives up to its name. It’s one of the best ways to engage your customers (and potential customers) personally.

Customer engagement can never be overstated. Highly engaged customers will practically market to themselves and will help drive positive word-of-mouth to boot.

Interacting directly with your audience through social media is one of the best ways to build customer engagement. So be active on your social media profiles. Reply to tweets, engage in Facebook comment threads, and reply to people on your Instagram profile.

Promote Your Brand the Right Way

Social media is fertile ground for brand promotion and savvy marketing. By engaging your audience, leveraging influencers, developing your voice, and using visual branding, your social media presence will pull more than its fair share of marketing weight.

Want to learn the importance of reputation? Check out the truth about reputation in the business world here.

The post 4 Ways to Use Social Media to Promote Your Brand appeared first on ReputationResults.

If you are looking to grow your private medical practice, taking advantage of social media is a must. With the right strategy, you can engage your existing patients.

You can also attract new ones.

Social networks are the fastest growing sites today. Internet users have made this their primary online activity. Over 81 percent of Americans have a social media profile.

Here are three way you can use Facebook and other social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to build your reputation.

1. Define Your Social Media Goals

Before you venture into the social media world, take a moment to define your goals for doing so. One goal is to build a community of followers. So, take some time to think about the types of patients you have in your private medical practice, as well as the types you’d like to attract.

Are your patients younger professionals, or baby boomers? For example, younger people tend to use Twitter and Instagram more than the older generations.

Understanding your patients’ social media interests will help you target your content as well. You are building a community as well as creating a trusted brand, or profile of your practice.

2. Post Poignant Content

Health information is abundant on the web. If you want to educate your patients about current health topics, be sure the content is credible. It should also be reassuring to readers who may have personal concerns.

You can mix some lighthearted material in from time to time. Keep it relevant to your audience. Post humorous content only occasionally. You don’t want to distract from your goal of building a trusting relationship with your followers.

Posts should relate to your practice but do not have to be rigid. For example, you may want a lighthearted post but don’t want to share another funny YouTube video. Instead, write an article featuring your favorite Save Rite Medical products sales rep.

3. Apply Etiquette to Your Posts

You are a private medical practice, so your social media posts should be professional. Posts should be informative and positive. Other platforms may welcome rants and reviews. But, that’s not what patients want to hear from their medical providers.

Posts should be professional in presentation along with tone. Be sure to edit for grammar and spelling before posting. Avoid posting content that is promotional only. Posts should contain useful information and not be about self-promotion.

Finally, a note of common sense. Avoid oversharing patient information. For instance, you may want to use a patient as an example. Even if you don’t reveal the patient’s name, sharing details of his or her treatment is a potential HIPAA violation.

Or, a patient may pose a question on one of your social media account. Reply by asking him or her to call your office rather than attempt to answer the question in a public forum.

Start Building Your Private Medical Practice Online Presence

Bolstering your online presence builds confidence with your existing patients. It also draws new patients to you. Without a social media strategy, you are hard pressed to create a recognizable brand for your private medical practice.

If you have any questions about social media marketing for your practice, please contact us.

The post 3 Simple Ways to Use Social Media to Grow Your Private Medical Practice appeared first on ReputationResults.

With 28.8 million small businesses in the United States, there’s more competition than ever. In order for a company to set themselves apart from the pack, branding has become essential.

With the increased use of social media, businesses are now struggling to find a way to stand out from the crowd. However, with the right strategies, social branding can be easy.

Here are four simple branding shortcuts for social media that anyone can put to use right now.

1. Be Consistent

Social branding needs to be consistent. This means the branding is consistent across every single social media profile the company maintains.

People are looking to learn more about the person behind the brand. They may use more than one social outlet to do their search.

Everything posted, from photos to videos and even written content should be consistent with the brand. Take a look at what other companies who have successfully branded themselves are doing on social media.

Check out what they’re posting, how often, and how their fans are communicating with them. Try doing something similar.

Also, post consistently. It’s easy to set up a system where posts are actually sent out at a specific time.

Make sure posts go out at least once per day and are always consistent with the social branding message strategy that’s been devised.

2. Build and Join Communities to Increase Social Branding

Both Facebook and LinkedIn provide opportunities to join groups focused on specific topics and industries. Find those groups that relate best to the company and join them.

It’s an opportunity to share experiences and build authority based on the companies or a personal brand.

While industry groups are good choices, they can also be overcrowded with the competition. Try finding other groups when the companies niche market might belong to.

3. Study and Collaborate with Influencers

Many celebrities today have become influencers online. One mention of a product from Kim Kardashian often has the product flying off the shelves.

It’s a good idea for a business to connect and collaborate with influencers to build up their social branding. However, remember that it does take time to build up a relationship with someone before they’re willing to help out.

Locate influencers and engage with them. Try using Narrow.io. After locating the top influencers for the business, analyze their networks.

Take a look at the types of content they share and how their followers respond. Then try building using a similar strategy.

4. Monitor Your Name

It’s incredibly easy to ruin someone’s good name online these days. It’s also easy to miss when someone says something amazing about a company.

Businesses have to be aware of when someone posts about their company, brand, or employees. That way, they can respond to both negative and positive comments in a timely manner.

It’s a good way to build trust with customers.

Luckily, it’s easy to set up alerts for the business. Use branded terms and any product/service-related search phrases that pertain to the company.

An alert should also be set up for personal brands. Don’t forget to include alerts for common keywords that involve specific areas of expertise.

Keep Learning

The more a company learns about branding and social media, the more success they’ll enjoy.

It’s tough to do without a little support. That’s where we come in.

We’ll help fix a bad online reputation and help prevent them from happening in the future. To get a free reputation audit report, click here.

The post 4 Simple Social Branding Shortcuts To Know Right Now appeared first on ReputationResults.

Every company needs to take advantage of the power of social media to engage your customer base.

Social media can put you in a position of demonstrating your status as industry experts.

As social media increases feature in our everyday lives, companies are likewise competing to influence online. After all, by harnessing the power of social media you can build trust and loyalty with your customers.

Social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, are increasingly functioning like search engines sites alongside Google.

The demographics of social media users have also significantly changed in recent years, which means that social marketing can be used to target all age groups now.

But how are companies doing this with social media? Keep reading to find out more.

1. Becoming Thought Leaders

Some companies simply use social media as yet another platform to promote their products and services. This is certainly a way to not only lose online followers. But also customers in the long run too.

You have to create value for your followers. This has seen some companies become what is known as, “thought leaders“. Thought leaders are industry experts that entertain and teach followers online with discussions and insights about business and life.

People in the industry can also keep up to date with the latest news and ideas in the industry by being a member of specialist sites such as Pharmacy Forum.

2. Be Transparent

While many companies have for some time been reluctant to fully dive into transparency. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that transparency cannot be avoided in the digital world.

However, the most innovative companies are embracing the new transparent business climate by adopting social media accounts featuring insights into their how the industry works.

This is good news for the companies doing this. According to a recent study, 82 percent of customers say they are more likely to trust a company if the CEO is active on social media.

3. Communicating with Consumers

Nowadays, consumers expect to be able to communicate with companies on social media. This allows for informal but quick responses by your customer service team on social media.

Many companies are embracing social media as a way to engage with large audiences. Even complaints by customers can turn into an opportunity to improve your service or products in the future.

It’s also a chance to inject a bit of fun into your brand and interaction with others. You can provide your followers with interesting content, such as blog posts and videos that engage and excite.

4. Accountable to Customers

If a customer is able to communicate and interact with you on social media, this provides a level of accountability that was previously absent from the relationship.

Companies are no longer faceless brands but they’re socially responsible brands. This makes consumers aware that you’re not just about profits.

If you’re building brand awareness, you can’t afford to simply create poor products or deliver a sub-standard service to your customers.

Industry Experts on Social Media

Follow in the footsteps of other innovative companies leading the way in creating value on social media for their customers and followers.

There are many important developments taking place in social marketing that you can be part of. To find out more about how to promote your company on social media and show yourself off as industry experts, check out our other blog posts.

The post Engage And Win Influence: How Companies Use Social Media To Become Industry Experts appeared first on ReputationResults.

The account is your platform. The strategy is what uses this platform with the business’s best interest in mind. This is a tool that can drive traffic, sales, and more – you just have to know how to use it.

Such successes begin with the right social media marketing campaign.

Not sure how to get started?

Here are five campaign strategies to always keep in mind.

1. Know Your Audience

Although social media can serve many different branding and marketing purposes, it all comes down to one thing: you have to be social!

Socializing begins with making a connection. To make the strongest connections possible, you have to know who your audience is.

Take your product’s buyer persona and develop it even further.

Ask yourself how much time your ideal buyer spends on social media. Consider the kind of hashtags and interaction behaviors they use. Maybe even try to identify the influencers and accounts your users are following.

These concepts shouldn’t be assumptions or shots in the dark of what you think users are doing.

They should be created based on research and data.

2. Find the Best Channel

The details above create the foundation for your social media marketing campaign.

Then, it’s time to get to work.

Identify the social media channel that your users frequent the most and make your presence there known.

Use this platform every day. Be conversational with your copywriting and don’t be afraid to share a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes.

The more approachable you make your account, the more users will flock there.

3. Don’t Box Yourself In

As effective as a quirky caption and an engaging photo can be, remember not to limit yourself.

Take the efforts you’ve put into one social media account and expand them to other options.

Are your Facebook followers increasing every day? Great – time to go to Instagram. Do users love your Instagram stories? Put them on Snapchat, too.

This is all about making your digital reach go as far as possible. It allows your message to be heard loud and clear, no matter where your audience is.

4. Do Something Different

A great way to make your message heard is to make it stand out.

Put your own twist on things going on in the media or the most recent fad that has taken your target market by storm. Such a creative direction keeps you relevant yet interesting.

It shows you know what users want to see/hear, and that you can deliver it in a fun, exciting manner.

Your audience will catch on with your style.

They will buy-in via likes, shares, comments, and reposts. They will tag their friends and maybe tag you in some separate posts, too.

This is all a sign your social media marketing campaign is paying off.

5. Engage, Engage, Engage

To make your campaign as effective as can be, you have to keep working at it.

Sure, strategies will change and new initiatives will come into play. But, you can’t just leave your social media account out to dry. You have to constantly interact with the following you’ve built.

This means regular posts that are different, yet well-branded.

Your brand keeps your online reputation consistent.

But, doing something out of your norm from time to time adds an intriguing dynamic.

Monitor the Performance of Your Social Media Marketing Campaign

After launching your first social media marketing campaign, the real work begins.

This is the time to track user engagements from follows and shares to likes and mentions.

See where your content is performing the best and which channels might need you to try again. More importantly, take a look at your overall online reputation.

Contact us today to see how social media and your online reputation go hand in hand.

The post Tops Tips for Running a Social Media Marketing Campaign appeared first on ReputationResults.

As you prepare your product or service, you should also be thinking about brand development. A brand is everything a user associates with your company. It is the logo as well as what you offer. It is your online reputation as well as your overall stance in the market.

As such, developing your brand is not something to take lightly.

Here are five tips to keep in mind while creating this fundamental part of your business.

1. Choose a Name That Sticks

Your company name is a key piece of your branding strategy.

It should represent your industry, your specific goods, and your values.

Yes – one name can do all of this. When you name your company effectively, that is.

Don’t just choose the first thing that comes to mind. Choose the company title you can’t get out of your head! It should be catchy and timeless.

2. Get Your Name Out There

Once you’ve decided on a name it’s time to figure out how to get your name out there.

Start leveraging all the online platforms available to you.

Hire a web designer to build a website for the company. This will be a cornerstone of your brand development.

A website is like a digital home for your brand. It is where you can be creative, connect with your audience, and plant SEO strategies to lead more users to you.

3. Focus on the Story

Although we live in a digital world, your brand will likely end up on some sort of print media, too.

Either way, always focus on the story wherever you are branding yourself.

The story is the history of the company and the passion behind the products. It is your core set of values and the way your business culture operates.

The more you work to unite such concepts with your brand, the stronger your brand becomes.

4. Create with Your Audience in Mind

Another thing to keep in mind is who the story of your brand is for.

It is for your users.

You may think branding is all about the bottom line or for market expansion. But, you can’t do this if you don’t have an audience that is bought-in.

Establish your primary and secondary targets. Then, cater your brand development to them.

Meet users where they are on social media. Use their language in your copywriting. Talk about the current events they care about and stay updated with the trends they are interested in.

5. Be Consistent

The final piece of your brand’s puzzle is consistency.

Try to take on all the above tactics from a unified stance. This will boost your market’s brand recognition, and over time, their loyalty.

At the end of the day, that is what it’s all about.

Your brand is an extension of who you are and what you do.

Be genuine and consistent with your approach and watch how well users respond. If you find you’re missing the mark, don’t be afraid to rebrand from time to time.

Maintain Your Brand Development Efforts with Reputation Management

Not sure how to track your brand’s performance?

You can start with an online reputation audit.

This helps you understand how well your brand development is doing across your website, social media, and more.

Contact us today to see how our reputation management services can further improve your brand.

The post 5 Brand Development Tips You Need to Know appeared first on ReputationResults.

Do you have what you thought was a great advertising strategy and company website, but consistently find that your current methods aren’t actually getting you any leads?

Are you tired of losing out on sales to your competitors, and are starting to get concerned about how you’re going to sell all the cars on your lot?

If so, it sounds like you’re in need of an update when it comes to how to market your car dealership. This article will tell you how to take your marketing strategy to the next level and better build your brand in the new year

Find Your Niche

No matter what industry you’re in, we know that your first business instinct is exactly the same as everyone else’s: you want to be a big fish in a big pond.

You dream of being the number one Google search result for every search term relating to cars. You want to be able to serve every type of customer, from those seeking luxury Italian vehicles to the 15-year-old who needs a car to learn on.

Unfortunately, the reality is (far) in the other direction.

If you end up over-estimating your influence, your inventory, and your chances of successfully converting customers, all you’ll end up doing is wasting valuable time and money. You’ll also likely find your dealership out of business very soon.

This is why finding your target market, or your “niche” — and then knowing exactly how to market your car dealership to that niche — is so important.

Though you’ll be working with a much more narrow market, you’ll also increase your ability to actually sell something.

So, how do you find this coveted niche?

First, think about the type of cars you love the most. Maybe you’re obsessed with vintage cars, or perhaps you love the challenge of a good fixer-upper. Also, consider your professional training. When you worked at your old dealership, did you specialize in a specific make or model? Which brand of cars are you the most familiar with?

All of this will help you decide where you want to focus your efforts, energy, and of course, money. Once you’ve found your niche, it’s time to…

Get Blogging

Of course, nobody will have any clue about the kinds of cars you offer, what you specialize in, or even that you exist at all if you don’t put yourself out there.

And while sandwich boards, funny messages on chalkboards, or even wild sign spinners are occasionally effective, they’re nothing compared to the wide world of the Internet.

In fact, having that blog will give you a 434% better shot at ending up on the first page of search engine results.

Blogging is a crucial way to market your car dealership because you’ll also have more chances to include keywords, or popular search terms, on your website. This means you’ll have a higher chance of connecting with local leads that are the most likely to buy from you.

Plus, blogging also tells Google that you update your site often, which means you’ll climb higher in the search engine rankings. Finally, it’s just a great way to position yourself as an educated and experienced authority in your industry.

Proving your expertise is what makes people decide to buy from you as opposed to your competitors.

What To Write About

So, now that you know why blogging is a key way to market your car dealership, what are you going to write about?

Sure, you can write about the cars you offer — and you should.

But also, be sure to think outside of the box and to always provide useful information to readers. Write posts on how often they should have their cars serviced, create a tutorial on how to change a tire, make car repairs, or even make a more lighthearted post about celebrities and their cars.

You could even get on the legal side of things, by writing about accident settlements and awards. However, if you go this route, make sure you have the facts by visiting the Craig Swapp car accident settlement page first.

Of course, whatever you choose to write about, keep it engaging, keep it informative, and of course, be sure to keep it original.

Never Underestimate The Power Of Social Media

It’s not exactly a secret that we live in an image-obsessed society. While it might now be great for your wallet or your self-confidence, it’s amazing news when it comes to how you market your car dealership.

Social media allows you to show off the vehicles you have on your lot, find out when your followers are the most likely to make a purchase (think just after a divorce or an upcoming sixteenth birthday.)

It will even allow you to re-market to those customers who have looked at your vehicles online but haven’t yet called to make an appointment for a test drive.

In short, take the time to make profiles on several different platforms, and update them as frequently as you can. Always ensure that your contact information, tone of voice, and the cars you advertise are consistent across all these platforms.

We know you’ll be a trending topic in no time.

Make Reputation Management A Part Of How You Market Your Car Dealership

Of course, if you have a blog, a niche market, and a strong social media presence, you know you open yourself up to a lot of opinions.

You might even put your own foot in your mouth a few times, or you might forget just how many people see social media as a part of customer service.

Don’t make a careless mistake that will cost you your business or leave customers unsatisfied.

Instead, work with us to understand what people are saying about your business and how to manage your car dealership’s reputation online. Understand what your visitors and potential customers want to see, increase your conversions, and get way more out of your current marketing strategy.

Ready to get started?

So are we. Reach out to us to make it happen, and to get your free reputation audit today.

The post How to Market Your Car Dealership appeared first on ReputationResults.

If it’s been awhile since you’ve paid attention, there could be something lurking that’s damaging your business’ reputation.

Pew Research has reported that 40% of adults in the U.S. have shared their experiences about products and services. If you think online reviews don’t matter, think again. Customers, potential customers, and search engines all pay attention to online reviews.

Keep reading to learn why online reviews matter and what you can do about them.

Online Reviews Impact SEO

The first reason why online reviews matter for your auto shop is because online reviews impact your search rankings.

As an auto shop, you’re considered a local business. With local SEO, you can generate many leads by improving your place in search results.

Think of SEO from the search engine’s perspective. They have one job–to provide the most relevant information to users. The faster search engines can give users the information they need to make a decision, the more likely users will that search engine again.

How does Google determine what’s relevant? There’s a complex algorithm that’s always changing to determine search results. Even though no one knows 100% for sure what that algorithm is, there are several variables that go into search results.

These include:

• Relevancy to a search term
• Number of backlinks you have from other sites
• How well your website is optimized
• How close your shop is to the user
• Customer reviews

The important takeaway here is that it’s not enough to have reviews on Yelp and other review websites. Your best bet is to have customers review your business on Google.

Customers Look at Reviews Before Deciding to Call

The most important reason why online customer reviews matter to your business is that they influence purchases. Put yourself in a customer’s shoes for a minute.

Let’s say you’re looking for a BMW repair shop. You look online and see a map with several options. You don’t know the difference between the shops listed, but you see that they have reviews.

One shop has 60 reviews with an average of four stars. The second has 3 reviews for an average of five stars. The third shop has 10 reviews with an average of three stars.

You look deeper. With the shop that has 60 reviews, they’re mostly positive, with a note from the auto shop after every single review. You see they also handle negative reviews well.

With the other reviews, there’s no interaction and very little details behind the reviews. You decide to call the shop with 60 reviews and take your car there.

In this situation, there are two important lessons:

1. Customers are ready to buy when they look up your services.
2. They are influenced by the number of reviews, the number of positive reviews, and the number of interactions between reviewers and the shop.

Reviews are incredibly influential for online buyers. Almost 90% of buyers trust online reviews as much as a referral from a friend. Plus, 88% of customers use reviews to decide if they’re going to buy or not.

What to Do About Negative Online Reviews

If you put your auto shop out there, chances are you’ll come across at least one negative review.

Your first reaction might be to get angry and upset that someone dared to leave a negative review about your business. You might be tempted to contact Google or Yelp and have them take the review down.

A negative review can provide an opportunity for you to learn and to do something better. It’s also an opportunity to listen to your customers.

When you get a negative review, engage with the person who left the review. The worst thing you can do is lay the blame on the customer for why that situation occurred.

Instead, use a template similar to this:

“Thanks so much for your feedback. We’re sorry you had a bad customer service experience. Here’s what we’re doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again. You can call us at xxx-xxx-xxxx to talk more about this situation so we can make it right.”

That’s how you show you’re listening and that a first-class customer experience is important to you.

How Your Auto Shop Can Get Positive Reviews

It is possible for your business to get positive online reviews. The easiest way is to ask your customers.

You do need to be careful, though, when it comes to asking for reviews. Some sites like Yelp have terms and conditions that strictly forbid asking for reviews.

That’s because they want to preserve the integrity of their online reviews. Businesses could have financial rewards for customers to post reviews, which could skew the perception of the business.

Other review sites aren’t as strict. Google’s policies state that you can ask for reviews, but you can’t give incentives to people to provide the reviews.

There are a few ways your auto shop can encourage customer reviews. If you have an email system to follow up with customers after you service their cars, you can ask them to rate their experience on Yelp or Google. Provide them with links to your shop’s listings.

Inside your shop, have a sign that says rate us on Google or find us on Yelp! And if you’re active on social media, you can periodically ask for reviews there as well.

Have a Reputation Management Partner

As an auto shop owner, it can be challenging to handle reputation management on top of everything else you do for your business.

The thing is, you can’t afford to let customer reviews fall by the wayside.

We work with small businesses to get more reviews. Our system handles asking your customers for reviews, and we filter out the good and the bad reviews for you.

If you’d like more information about this system, please contact us today.

The post How Auto Shop Reviews Can Impact Your Business appeared first on ReputationResults.

Leveraging social media can significantly help every important metric for your betting business. You can watch increase SEO, decrease bounce rate, boost visitor traffic, and increase revenues with social media.

And social media isn’t limited to Facebook. The recent investment in live video by Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook has created a more robust user experience.

The days of a Myspace page are long gone. Today’s social media users can shop, post reviews, and get targeted ads.

Make social media work for you with these tips:

1. Your Betting Business is Based on Audience

If you aren’t using your analytics to inform any marketing strategy your business is in trouble. The digital world is customer-centric and needs to cater to the unique needs of your audience.

Not all betting business is the same. Do you appeal to corporate professionals or university students? Or some demographic in between?

Make sure you know the audience you appeal to inform your use of social media. You may want to consider LinkedIn as a pathway to a professional network versus Twitter or Instagram.

2. Lead With Mobile

Most social media traffic is now generated by mobile users. It’s important to design your social media strategy around this type of user.

Your content will be more accessible and more optimized if you are aware of the user type.

3. Leverage Video

Live video and other types of video content are great ways to make use of social media. Content is always king and video is the preferred type of content for social media users.

4. A Call To Action

Are you looking for reviews? Are you hoping users share content?

Whatever your goal for an individual post make sure there is some sort of call to action.

You may want to design betting tips with an invitation to click here for more information. In any case, make sure you are leading your visitor traffic to the next action.

5. Mitigate Issues Quickly

Digital transformation and the digital marketplace give businesses rapid access to customers. The only downfall to the speed of connection is when things go south.

The smallest instance of customer dissatisfaction can snowball. In these cases, social media can be a blessing and a curse.

All that time you have invested in a social media strategy can be destroyed without a proactive approach. That proactive approach should include monitoring reputation issues and mitigating them as soon as possible.

Get the Help You Need

Responding to customer complaints and addressing service issues can actually turn problems into opportunity. You can showcase your skills for resolving problems and helping clients.

Make the most of your social media strategy by including reputation monitoring services. You can’t afford to wait until it is too late to help your customers.

Use Reputation Mart to manage your reputation services. Come find out more about how our reputation services can augment your social media strategy today.

The post Social Media 101: How to Make Your Betting Business Boom appeared first on ReputationResults.

Have you ever wondered why some plumbers always seem to be swimming in clients? Those plumbers aren’t just lucky, they’ve learned how to use social media and plumber marketing to help their business.

Want to learn how you can use social media to promote your business? Read on to find out!

How To Handle Plumber Marketing The Right Way

Social media is hot for every industry right now, and if you want to find the right customers that will keep coming back for more, you need to be on social.

Want to know what you need to do to master social media marketing? If you follow these simple steps, you’ll have more customers than you know what to do with.

Set A Schedule

Do you have a Facebook page, Twitter account, or other social media profile?

In the past simply having a profile was enough, but now you need to make sure that they’re being posted consistently.

Don’t just post whenever you feel like it. Post content on a schedule so you can ensure that you’re reaching people at optimal times.

Post Tutorials

The key to marketing is to show potential clients that they have a need for your knowledge and expertise. Is there a better way to show that you can handle any job than by demonstrating your talent?

Blogging and vlogging have their own unique benefits, but people in your industry may benefit the most for vlogging.

Video is hot right now on social, and the right kind of content can do wonders for your social media presence.

If you want to show people why they should use your services, show them how knowledgeable you are.

You don’t have to give away your knowledge base, just show a few quick things they can do to fix simple plumbing problems. You’ll give them vital information, and also show them why you’re the right plumber for the job.

Target Locally

If you’re a plumber, it’s safe to assume that you usually don’t work with clients that are halfway across the country.

When it comes to plumber market mistakes, one of the most common is that they don’t target the right audience. They end up not adding location keywords and spend money showing ads to people that will never use their services.

If you want to handle your marketing the right way, focus on location-based keywords. You’ll ensure that you’re finding customers that are in your target area of interest.

Don’t just enter in keywords for a generic location. Alabama plumbing won’t get as many leads as Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in Auburn Al.

It’s easy to target locally. Simply include your location in your keywords, and you’ll find the right customers.

Start A Conversation

Someone just posted on your Facebook page. They want to know what hours you’re open. How do you handle it?

If you simply start posting the hours you’re open to, you aren’t utilizing social media the right way. Don’t forget that there’s the word “social” in social media, you need to do what you can to target and interact with the right people.

Instead of simply listing your hours, why not ask them why they need to know your hours? Or, you can suggest a simple fix to common plumbing problems.

Every interaction you have is an opportunity for a sale. Show your friendly side and help them out by being conversational.

Utilize Advertising

In the past, advertising to local customers could be expensive. You’d have to find money to put an ad in the local paper, then you’d have to think about paying for flyers and mailers.

In today’s social media age, plumber marketing can cost as little as $5 a day. As long as you have a campaign set up, you can attract customers at a fraction of the cost of traditional print advertising.

Social media advertising is inexpensive and effective. You’ll be able to target a specific customer case without having to worry about printed material costs.

Next Steps

Do you want to take your plumber marketing to the next level? Instead of focusing on social, think about your online reputation. Take some time to run a reputation audit to see what people are saying about your business.

If you want to stay on the social track, be sure to check out our guide to posting great content on Instagram so you can get more followers.

The post 5 Tips For Plumber Marketing: How To Build Your Brand On Social Media appeared first on ReputationResults.

Does it matter, to begin with? No doubt. Up to 90 percent of your potential customers will look up your online reviews before visiting your store! That’s not all. 84 percent of internet users trust online reviews as much as they trust recommendations from friends!

If people are posting bad things about your business online, its reputation will take a hit. As a result, sales will also slump. If you don’t take steps to steady the boat, you may end up closing shop.

So, how do you maintain a good reputation?

Simple. Use social listening tools!

Here is how they come in handy.

Discover Negative Conversations in Real Time

Do you know 81 percent of Americans are active on at least one social media platform?

This means one thing: there are a lot of conversations happening on social networks (as well as other on platforms like blogs and forums) right now.

There’s a good chance someone is talking about your brand. The challenge is, how do you know what they’re saying?

Sure, you could start doing a Google search and digging around and maintaining a keen eye on your social network feeds, but given how vast the internet is, that will be a futile exercise.

What you need to do is use a social listening tool. These tools scourge social platforms on your behalf, and report any conversation they find, in real time!

The sooner you know what the people are saying, the quicker you can address their concerns and protect your good reputation.

Improve Customer Experience

Excellent customer service is the heart of any successful business.

However, it can be difficult to craft an effective customer service strategy if you don’t know what your customers really want.

Here is where social listening tools come in.

From the fact that they’ll help you know what your customers are saying about your brand, you can use the information to offer better customer service.

For instance, if many of your customers are saying your front office employees are not friendly, you can either retrain them or hire new people.

Get Content Ideas

In today’s digital age, one of the primary goals of a business is to provide content that’s informative and useful to the customer.

Like designing a winning customer service strategy, it’s also difficult to know the kind of content your customers need. What are their pain points?

Again, social media listening tools are helpful here.

What’re people saying? If you, for instance, find people asking “Does brand X offer home cleaning products” craft content around home cleaning.

Even if you don’t currently offer home cleaning products or services, there’s no harm creating content that helps your customers do DIY home cleaning.

By the time you start offering home cleaning products, you’ll have built a community of customers who will be interested in the products.

Social Listening Tools Do More Than Help You Protect a Good Reputation

Evidently, social listening tools are a must-have if you want to stay on top of your brand health. Beyond that, they will help you offer better services to your customers.

But how do you find the best listening tools? There are hundreds or thousands of options on the web, so settling on the best can prove challenging.

You don’t have to worry, because Reputation Results is here.

We’ll give your business a free audit, and then work with you to repair and build your reputation.

The post How Social Listening Can Protect Your Good Reputation appeared first on ReputationResults.

Facebook is reaching over 2 billion users and its influence only continues to grow. Millions of businesses are using Facebook pages and others still are using Instagram, which is also owned by Facebook

You need to promote your website on social media. It’s no longer the trendy thing to do. It’s a necessity now if you want your business to thrive and survive.

Promoting on social media isn’t as easy it seems. There are many platforms and consumer usage varies with each one.

If you’re planning to start promoting on social media, do take a moment to consider some tactics to get the most out of it.

Know Which Social Media Platform Your Audience Uses

If your business focuses on installment loans, you won’t find a big audience on Instagram. Wire Lend, for example, gives out installment loans to people in Florida. This type of website can focus on Twitter and Facebook marketing.

You can click for more information about Wire Lend and see how it markets on social media.

A business that focuses on online shopping will do better on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. These platforms allow a company to build a voice with their consumer-base. Facebook is also notable for being the most popular platform to date.

If you’re not sure which platform is best for you, you should get a reputation audit. This will also help your business deal with bad reviews and a dwindling online presence. This step will guide you in regaining a foothold with your target audience.

Use Videos to Promote Your Website

Visual aids help consumers retain information. Consumers have a 65% higher chance of clearly remembering a Facebook ad if it comes with a photo or video.

Videos are more engaging than a photo. You can squeeze in a strong message in less than 30 seconds and post it on Facebook or YouTube.

The technology for video interaction is also growing with the advent of VR technology. Even mobile devices can access the VR experience thanks to devices like Google Daydream VR. Your company can pioneer this new trend and use interactive VR videos to promote products and services.

Schedule When to Post on Social Media

More than half of the American population are under Central Time and Eastern Time zones. People tend to use different social media sites at different times. Schedule when to promote your website and on which platform to do so.

Studies show that posting on Facebook at 3 PM leads to the most clicks. Posting at 1 PM gets the most shares. Twitter works differently as the optimal time is on Wednesdays, between 5-6PM. This is because that period is when workers are on their break.

It is best to avoid posting during the early morning and late evening. During those periods people are not online. They are either still asleep or are on the road from work and school.

Promote Your Website on Social Media Now

Don’t waste another second and get on social media.

Start sharing photos, links, and videos to your consumers. Interact with them and let them know you welcome their opinions. This builds your online status and trust with your consumers.

If you’re still starting, you can begin by gaining more positive reviews. Building an online reputation the consumers can trust will boost your social media marketing results.

Not sure where to start? Contact us and we’ll get you started.

The post How to Use Social Media to Promote Your Loan Lending Business appeared first on ReputationResults.

It can be difficult to grow your followers in an organic way and may take a bit of time. However, building your following on this social media platform can be a great boon to your business.

Having an engaged and active audience who is interested in your business’s products or services means a base of power users who are eager to hear news from your brand.

Read on if you want tips on getting your business more followers for Instagram.

Engage, Engage, Engage

The top tip for building and keeping an engaged following on Instagram is to engage with similar accounts and those who may be interested in your products or services.

Reach out to accounts who are in a similar niche. Follow them, like and comment on their posts, and strike up conversations with them.

Leave thoughtful and targeted comments that show you are reading, enjoying, and thinking about their content. Chances are, they will be thankful and want to return the favor.

You may even try engaging with social media influencers. These are the people who have grown huge followings on Instagram.

If they take notice of you and engage back with you, this can be great for getting your name out there and being recognized.

Of course, these influencers have a ton of followers, so it may be easy for them to miss your comment. That’s why you should also be chatting with accounts who are around the same size as you.

Focus on Quality

Producing great content is key to getting your business more followers on any social media platform, but especially on Instagram.

On this platform, stunning photos paired with informative and interesting captions is the way to win. Focus on the quality rather than the quantity of your posts. You want to make it worth your followers while to follow and engage with you.

If you are publishing poor quality, they will likely unfollow you or just avoid your posts altogether.

Also, try to keep it positive and upbeat on Instagram. Snorkeling Beach, for example, produces nice photos so that followers can quickly see what they’re all about.

While you should be authentic and genuine with what you post, try to keep a positive spin on what you are sharing on social media.

Questions About Getting More Followers for Instagram?

If you have questions about getting more followers for Instagram or need help building a strong online reputation for your company, we can help.

Growing your following can seem like a daunting task, but it will be more than worth it in the end.

We offer a free reputation audit and can help you with managing your reputation. Whether you need help with social media or online reviews, you have come to the right place.

Reach out to us if you are in need of more followers for Instagram or simply an improved online presence for your business.

The post How to Get Your Business More Followers for Instagram appeared first on ReputationResults.

That may be why so many businesses ultimately have to close their doors within the first few years.

However, that doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. There are still plenty of ways to market a brand, it’s just important to be smart about it.

And with billions of users on social media, there are tons of brand new ways to reach an audience. In fact, 81% of the US population reports having an account on at least one social media site.

So how can businesses maximize their efforts? Keep reading for five great ways to promote a brand like a social media strategist.

1. Work On Phrasing

As with every form of marketing, social media marketing needs to be carefully crafted. Remember, it factors into a brand’s overall SEO ranking.

Predicting what an audience is likely to search for can be difficult, so be sure to use a keyword research tool.

The more specific the keyword the better. Let’s look at a quick example.

Say a brand works in the nightclub industry. They’re looking to promote their bookings, so they use the keywords ‘table booking’.

Should work, right? Ideally, yes, but, it’s too vague and needs to be more specific. Keywords should typically have a local element to them.

Instead of ‘table service’ the brand could try ‘Scandal table booking‘. It still uses relevant keywords, but it’s better for the brand’s overall SEO.

2. Have A Niche

There are thousands if not millions of brands with social media profiles. If a brand wants to stand out, it’s important to embrace the niche.

Focus on one specific subject and master it. Niche brands tend to have an easier time crafting content and come up against less competition in the marketplace.

Best of all, it lends itself to Facebook. There are groups for nearly everything. All a niche brand has to do is announce its presence and it’s likely going to get more followers.

3. Set Reasonable Goals

Any social media strategist will say the same thing: it’s important to set goals. However, it’s also important to make sure those goals are reasonable.

For instance, a smaller brand shouldn’t exactly expect to get quarter-million followers from one campaign. That doesn’t mean that it won’t happen one day. Just take things one step at a time and start small.

4. Embrace Facebook Ads

Perhaps no advertising platform is as easy and intuitive to use as Facebook Ads. Last year, it brought in $10 billion in revenue!

And spending a few minutes on the platform will illustrate why. Brands can choose from a variety of options, from demographics to how much they want to spend per day.

It’s one of the most pro-business platforms on the net, and it’s a social media strategist’s best friend.

5. Interact With The Audience

Finally, don’t forget the reason that people join social media in the first place: to be social!

Engage with customers on a frequent basis to get better results.

Customers want to know that brands hear them. Never shy away from responding to a customer’s feedback — even if it’s negative.

Every Social Media Strategist Could Use Some Help

Social media isn’t going anywhere and that’s not a bad thing. But if businesses want to survive in today’s digital marketplace, they’ll need to adapt.

For great tools to help target a campaign, including a free reputation audit, keep it posted to Reputation Results! We love helping brands get the results they need.

The post 5 Tips to Maximize on Social Media to Promote Your Brand appeared first on ReputationResults.

Not only can these social media accounts boost sales, they can also improve a company’s reputation.

Marketing partnerships drive growth through the social reach of an influencer’s followers.

What Is a Social Media Influencer?

This type of marketing uses an influential personality on social media to promote a product or service. This social media account does not have to be a celebrity, but can be a popular niche blogger.

Such influencers have significantly larger followings than an average social media account. An influencer will likely have tens of thousands of followers or more.

Your company would pay this account to promote the product to a much broader audience. Promoted posts on Facebook or Twitter would have a target audience chosen. But, a promoted post through an influential account would reach beyond that target.

An influencer may promote your product or company on a specific social media channel. In the case of influential bloggers, it may just be a review written on their blog. The terms of posting will be set out once you come to an agreement.

In some cases, an influencer will promote a product or service in exchange for a sample. FCC and EU regulations require influencers to state whether they have a relationship with the company.

Audiences view influencers’ opinions as more reliable and honest. Therefore, audiences will believe the reviews. In this case, a social media influencer endorsement is more powerful than having a celebrity appear in an advertisement.

How to Find Social Media Influencers

First, you need to identify your target audience and prospective influencers on different social media platforms. These two things need to match. You wouldn’t want to choose a real estate influencer to market website services.

Think about people who would use your product or service and search for related social media profiles. The majority of those accounts’ followers should fit into your target audience.

Keep in mind that the larger the influencer’s following, the more expensive a partnership may be.

There are services online to check and monitor an influencer’s social media reach across various platforms, such as Klout. Some services can also identify the fake followers an account has on Twitter.

There are also influencer marketing platforms to help simplify the process.

Grow Your Business with Social Media

You don’t have to build a following with just your social media accounts. There’s no need to go it alone when you can recruit influencers to help build your market and grow your business.

More than 80% of marketers will use influencers to boost sales as well as their company’s reputation. And the majority believes that these marketing campaigns are effective.

When you’re ready to grow your business through social media, contact us for help building a better online reputation.

The post The Power of Social Media Influencer Marketing appeared first on ReputationResults.

While social media marketing is big business — and a complicated business, at that — here are three of the top methods of brand building through social media.

Visual Content — Pictures, Videos, and Graphics

A video posted on Facebook receives 135% more organic reach than a photo. On Twitter, videos are retweeted six times more than photo tweets. And YouTube is not just a place to watch cute animal videos or the latest offering from DJ Khaled. It’s actually the second-largest search engine in the world.

It’s clear, then, that creating videos related to your business is crucial to building your brand. For example, take a look at OB One Communications, which uses video testimonials to great effect on its website.

Don’t have a full-service video production department? Sharing others’ videos — with full credit, of course — will help boost audience engagement. And just because videos out-perform photos doesn’t mean that you should abandon photos (or other graphic imagery) altogether. Even in the brave new world of social media, a picture is still worth a thousand words.

Additionally, branch out from Facebook and Twitter. Three of the most popular social networks are image-centric, so make sure to establish a presence on Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat, too.

To Promote Your Brand, Engage Your Audience

At its heart, social media is, well, social. Just sharing links to your latest blog post won’t do much to promote your brand. Instead, capitalize on the interactive nature of social media to communicate with your followers.

When users reach out to your business with questions, complaints, or kudos, respond to them! Whether you take a sincere but friendly tone or a humorous, semi-snarky one (look at Denny’s wildly successful social campaign for an example of how this is done right) depends on your brand, but conversation is one of the best ways to develop that brand, bar none.

Another great tactic? Solicit your users’ opinions. Pose questions, post polls, encourage them to use brand-specific hashtags, ask to see their photos or videos that feature your product or service. People love to be heard, and your presence on social media can provide them that opportunity.

Use Influencers to Get the Word Out

The concept of influencers isn’t new. Celebrities have been endorsing products since modern marketing began. The definition of influencers and their approach toward promoting products have both evolved, however.

Influencers no longer have to be TV or movie stars; instead, they are often lifestyle bloggers, YouTubers, or Instagram stars. And you can’t simply pay them to promote your brand, either. Their own personal brand will have to dovetail with yours.

By and large, influencers truly believe in the products or companies that they agree to partner with — which actually adds to their credibility. Whether it’s a food blogger creating recipes based on your product or an IG fitness guru who includes your protein bars in one of her pictures, the promotion becomes nearly seamless. And followers love it.

Lastly…

Along with social media marketing to promote your brand, make certain that your online reputation is spotless. How can you tell? Try this free reputation audit today, and contact Reputation Results if you have any questions.

The post Top 3 Ways to Use Social Media to Promote Your Brand appeared first on ReputationResults.

Why Should You Care About Facebook?

With more than one billion active users, Facebook represents a huge potential market for any real estate professional. Real estate professionals use Facebook more than any other social network.

Facebook for Realtors: An Easy Guide

How to Set up a Facebook Page

The first step for any realtor is to set up a business page on Facebook. We recommend you do this instead of using your own personal account because it’s more professional and allows you to market to your followers more efficiently.

Here are the steps you’ll need to complete to create your profile:

1. Log into your personal Facebook account
2. Go to “Create Page”
3. Select Your Business Category (small business)
4. Upload your profile picture (a professional headshot or company logo is best)
5. Fill in your company information with all your relevant business details (phone number, email address, office location)

Facebook for Realtors: Best Practices

Share Updates

Promote your page (and make it easy for followers to find you) by sharing updates. You should share new listings, blog posts, and photos of any new neighborhoods or properties you have. Check out Powerhouse Real Estate to see how you can utilize updates in creative ways to engage with customers.

Learn About Your Audience

With features like Graph Search, you can find out more about your audience. You can look up where they live, identify their interests, and find out what other brands and professionals they’re connecting with.

Boost Your Posts

When you boost your posts, you can target people by age, gender, and location, which means you can better connect with your core audience.

Tip: The cost to boost content depends on how big of a reach you want. Try a few different price tiers to see what reach is best for you!

Encourage Feedback

Invite your followers to leave comments, ask questions, and share your posts. It’s important to get potential clients to engage with your brand.

Make sure you keep your posts professional and impartial though. Delete or hide any posts that may offend followers, and always think about your professional reputation whenever you create a post.

Take Advantage of Advertising

Paid ads are essential when it comes to Facebook for realtors. Display ads can bolster brand awareness, and drive traffic back to your own website.

Utilize the Page Insights Tools

It’s not enough to market your business and attract followers, you need to keep track of who your followers and what content they like. Facebook’s Page Insights tool lets you determine the demographics of your followers and those who’ve liked your page. it also tells you what updates they specifically liked, which can help you determine the kind of posts you should be making.

Final Thoughts on Facebook for Realtors

Facebook may be business, but it should also be fun! Post photos of you and your team having fun, volunteering or participating in community activities. Potential clients want to buy or rent properties from real people, not some faceless company.

Are you a realtor with a Facebook business page? Are there any best practices we left out of this marketing guide? Let us know in the comments!

The post Facebook for REALTORS(R): A Comprehensive Guide to Social Media Marketing appeared first on ReputationResults.

As a matter of fact, 44 percent of small businesses depend on social media as a key part of their business strategy.

And as the years go on, that number will be sure to increase: Facebook’s user numbers go up seventeen percent each year. That means seventeen percent more customers for you to reach online.

If you’re a forward-thinking business owner, you’ll check out these statistics on how social media solutions can help your moving company.

Don’t Break The Bank

A lot of companies will market expensive social media solutions as the only way to succeed. And while it’s true that they want you to think there are no other ways to make it, that simply isn’t the case.

For an example of a company that built a killer online presence without bankrupting themselves in the process, click here.

The truth is, social media has become an effective and popular marketing method in part because it’s so affordable. Facebook ads are reasonably priced, as are paid tweets and even PPC advertising methods.

Make sure you set your budget ahead of time. Social media ads can be a bit like potato chips, where you just want to make one after the other.

If you have a set price range, you won’t need to worry about bankrupting your company in the process of developing your online presence.

Use Targeted Ads As Social Media Solutions

When it comes to social media ads, quality is far more important than quantity. You can use targeted ads to make sure you reach people at their price range and level of need.

There are plenty of categories you can choose from with your ads. And Facebook will even help you make sure that your ad still has a wide enough reach to be worth using. Overall, this should be a cornerstone of your social media strategy.

Be Responsive To Protect Your Reputation

We’ve listed being responsive on social media as the most important way to engage customers today. This is the case for a few reasons, but the most notable of them is the impact social media has on your reputation.

If somebody puts out a negative tweet or Facebook status about your brand, it doesn’t just impact their view. It also changes the views of the people they surround themselves with.

Monitor what people are saying about your company on social media. If you see something you can address, get in touch with that person and try to help them.

This can be done via a Facebook message, tweet, or another method. But no matter what you choose, it can go a long way towards helping your reputation.

Know Your Reputation

Before you engage in any social media solutions, you need to know how your brand is doing.

There are a number of companies suffering from negative reputations online who don’t even know it. And this undiagnosed illness can become a disease when it comes to making a profit.

If you want to gain more knowledge about your company, you need a reputation audit. Get one from us so you can get started on improving your brand’s identity.

The post Social Media Solutions: How to Promote Your Moving Company appeared first on ReputationResults.

As an animal hospital, using social media to market your services may seem out of place.

But did you know that 88% of all companies use social media marketing?

The first step is to join the most popular networks. Facebook and Instagram are good places to start. With billions of users, these two networks are goldmines for finding new clients.

Once the profiles are set up, you’re ready to get started! Keep reading for three tips to use social media to build your brand.

1. Run A Pet Photo Contest At Your Animal Hospital

What better way to build your office’s visibility than through a contest?

Social media users love sharing pictures of their pets! In fact, dog owners post pictures of their pets at least 6 times a week.

To grow some buzz around your office, run a photo contest.

Create an Instagram post announcing the contest as well as entry details.

You could run a contest for the cutest pet Halloween costumes or ask followers to post their best guilty pet photos.

To entice clients to participate, offer a prize. Discounted or free services are ideal ways to persuade your followers to take part in the contest.

2. Broadcast Community Involvement

As an animal hospital, it’s important to stay involved in the community.

Plan a local campaign that benefits animals. Need some ideas? Consider:

• Hosting a seminar to discuss the importance of spay/neuter
• Collect pet crates, food, and toys to donate to a disaster relief group
• Hosting a pet walk

Once you’ve figured out an event, share the news on Facebook! Be sure your post includes all the important details.

Including cute pet images in your post is sure to gain some likes and shares.

3. Share Pet Knowledge

Pet owners are always looking to boost their pet knowledge. As a pet professional, your clients look to you for trusted information.

When you post new blogs to your website, you’ll also want to share them on social media.

Be sure you post fun topics that your clients can relate to. Posting timely information is also important.

In the Fall and Spring, share tips about flea and tick treatment. In the summertime give helpful information about keeping pets safe and cool.

Final Word On Branding Your Animal Hospital

For your animal hospital to grow its brand and reputation, using social media marketing is a must.

Getting involved online and offline gives your hospital a reliable and trustworthy reputation.

Want to ensure that your office’s online reputation is where it should be? Looking for professional reputation services to help build your brand?

If so Reputation Results is the company for you. We know the ins and outs of maintaining a top-notch online reputation.

Our team will work with you to boost your brand’s reputation through positive client testimonials.

Contact us today to get started on your free reputation audit.

The post How Social Media Can Help Brand Your Animal Hospital appeared first on ReputationResults.

74% of consumers consider social media their key tool for making purchase decisions. So it’s more important than ever to get it right.

For brands who want to expand, an effective social media campaign can give huge returns. But what does a successful campaign look like?

We’ve put together 8 tips to guide your campaign.

Make a Plan

Social media may seem like a relaxed place, but that doesn’t mean you can wing it. Make a plan for your social media campaign before you get started. This allows you to schedule, assign time, and budget accordingly.

You’ll also need this plan to decide your message in advance. Otherwise, you risk running a confused campaign.

Consider Your Call to Action

If you’re creating a social media campaign, then you have a goal in mind. Are you looking for subscribers? Or customers to buy your product? Are you gathering feedback?

Whatever it is, be sure to keep it front and center in your campaign so your followers can access it easily.

Don’t Be a Robot

It’s called social media, after all. If you spout canned phrases and obvious marketing tripe, your followers will catch on. Make sure your social media voice is one your followers expect of your brand, but keep it as natural as possible,

Make It Interactive

Social media gives you a lot of scope for a fun and interactive campaign. Consider running a Q&A session, or starting a poll. Videos and games are also a great way to engage followers.

Involve Influencers

Influencers can make or break marketing campaigns.

If you can get an influencer on board with your campaign, their large follower count could make a huge difference to your success. Influencers can also help reinforce your campaign message.

Give Rewards

Rewarding your followers gives them a great incentive to get involved. Discount codes and other follower rewards make them feel part of the campaign. It also helps them see your brand in a positive light – people love to be rewarded, after all.

Be Dynamic

Unlike traditional campaigns, a social media campaign is much easier to adjust on the fly. That’s great news, because you’ll want to tailor your campaign to the kind of responses you’re getting – and course correct if you’re getting bad feedback!

Observe and Analyze

You need to keep an eye on the results of your campaign even while it’s running. That means making effective use of analytics tools to understand how much of a return you’re getting for your efforts.

Make sure you understand these tools in advance. Once the campaign is over, you’ll also be able to get a better overview of your success.

Launching Your Social Media Campaign

Social media marketing lacks the barrier for entry that impacts traditional marketing. So it’s no surprise that brands are tapping into it more and more. By keeping our above tips in mind, you can not only join them but stand out from the pack.

Be sure to follow our blog for more marketing hints and tips.

The post 8 Tips for Launching an Effective Social Media Campaign appeared first on ReputationResults.

Every platform has its own intricacies to navigate.

Most social media platforms provide some form of analytics through their site. Twitter analytics shows you all that you need to know. Facebook analytics are available through selecting the Insights tab on the top of a business Page. Through Instagram, insights can be seen on promoted posts.

There are also many third-party sites that offer services to compile all social media analytics in one place.

Once the data is collected, use these tips to analyze it and find out how to reach an audience and what to do to engage with them.

Bust Out the Spreadsheets

When auditing social media data, it is really helpful to put all of the data from the various platforms into Google sheets.

Break down a sheet by each platform — Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so on. Then measure the number of followers or impressions on each and the amount of total engagement of each.

Looking at the level of engagement compared to the number of people that saw the content can give good information for analysis. If posts are reaching thousands of viewers but only getting engagement from a handful of people then they might need to be improved in some way.

Breakdown Social Media Data

It’s good practice to breakdown engagement of each platform by type.

For example, Facebook has likes, clicks, shares, and comments. Breaking each category down shows how people engage with the posts to give more detail to the audit and better understand an audience.

Use this information to figure out an average amount of engagement to show the standard performance of a particular page.

It helps to remove outliers when calculating averages. An extremely popular post that got a lot more likes than any other can be left out so it doesn’t throw the numbers off too much.

Do analyze the outliers on their own though. When a post gets triple the likes and shares of an average post, figure out why.

Was it because it was shared by someone else? Should that person be considered a possible influencer to reach out to? Test assumptions and get to the root source of the success.

Test assumptions and get to the root source of the success.

Set Performance Goals

Now those average level of engagements can help set benchmarks for future posts. Set a goal to increase the number of likes by 30% above the average for the next post.

Once posts start meeting benchmarks, new goals can be set to continue to improve the business’ social media strategy as a whole.

Monitor Time and Frequency

Find out when followers will engage with posts. Analyze the high and low traffic time periods for an audience and post a few times during each period. Doing this for several days can show when an audience likes to engage with that content.

It could be that when traffic is lower engagement increases due to less competition amongst all of the other posts out there.

Measure impressions to see how many people are being reached during a given time period. Compare that to how many posts were made. It may be that a slight change of only a few extra posts can greatly increase engagement.

Analyze for Success

Many trends with social media data can fluctuate on the regular. Successful social media campaigns stay nimble and monitor these changes. That way, they can adapt their approach to reach their audience.

It’s best to not make too many changes at one time though because it can make it hard to see how those changes affect the data overall. Make changes in increments to test them over time.

To really find out what your audience thinks about your business you can try a free reputation audit. If your reviews aren’t as good as they could be, then there are reputation services available to help improve them.

We hope these tips help you analyze and grow a successful social media presence.

The post Social Media Data: How to Analyze Your Social Media appeared first on ReputationResults.