Building your business brand and reputation online with social media and review sites is as important as your offline presence to succeed in today’s markets
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your brand won’t be either, but anything that’s worth building takes time. Unfortunately, 50 percent of businesses fail within the first five years of their inception, according to the International Expert Directory, and you don’t want to be one of them. Building your brand through your online presence is one of the most effective ways you can take the business world by storm.
Although there is no one magic formula or solution that will guarantee your business will snowball into greatness, learning expert tips of the branding and social media world are a necessity. As the world shifts more and more into the virtual realm, it’s up to you to make sure your business purveys the internet’s version of a strong handshake and a trustworthy visage.
Show Yourself
When you’re at a social gathering, or networking event everyone flocks to the congenial guy telling a great story by the bar, and they tend to stay away from the quiet guy sitting in the corner without a name tag the one who gives awkward stares and keeps to himself. Your online presence is the same way, successful brands give themselves personality. Showing who you are online helps put a face to a name. Think about how much more personable and approachable Oprah is when she posts instragram images of her dogs in bed with her. Giving a human glimpse at who you are, without going overboard, helps users see and trust the person behind the curtain.
Fast-Forward Trust
Although time and consistency is the key to building trust in any relationship, there are certain practices that can help online.
Reputation.com highlights the importance of maintaining a positive presence across sites like Amazon and Yelp for building and maintaining trust. Ecommerce companies like Addoway also help to promote and expand your brand presence and reliability within your customer base by letting friends see who bought what from where, and using social graphs to help buyers discover and unlock retailers that would be perfect for their needs. Whether you’re a startup or you’re looking to expand and update your brand and reputation, knowing how to appear, engage and build trust with your client base is a make-it-or-break it part of the fickle online world.
Interact
Social Media Today reports that customers may be growing less inclined to follow or like a brand’s social media pages. This is because brands generally aren’t as engaging as personalities, nor do they resonate with people on a personal level. In fact, according to a survey on SMT, “over 70 percent of all customer complaints sent to companies via Twitter fall on deaf ears.
The worst response a person can hear is nothing, and nothing hurts brands and customer feelings as much as being ignored. If a brand is engaging and entertaining however, customers are more than 40 percent likely to recommend them to their friends.
Purvey Privacy Policies
Privacy is a hot button issue right now, which is why it’s so important to be upfront about your brand or services privacy policy. A hundred pages of legal jargon isn’t going to cut it for today’s savvy consumer. It is recommended that you boil down your privacy statement into a few easy-to-understand sentences that can’t be misconstrued- especially when it comes to their personal information. This should then be followed up by a link that leads to your full, comprehensive privacy policy.
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By Guest Contributor: Karen Kennedy – CEO of a children’s learning software company, loves sharing her tips on management and how to get your startup running.
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