The Power of Social Media

In spite of being a somewhat recent term, reputation management, or reputation, for this matter, is as old as man himself. However, and since the world has been experiencing the fourth industrial revolution —where the line between digital and analog is becoming more and more blurry— understanding and, furthermore, successfully managing a company’s or a personal online reputation might seem a daunting task. In reality, reputation management is a really simple topic which people make overly complicated, especially in the business world. Back in the days, reputation management used to mean something more, and it kind of should today as well since, everything people do as business —from tech support to the final product, for instance— is ultimately related to that business’s reputation as it extends to, for example, the customer’s experience —thereby enabling them to develop their own perception of that specific company.



Courtesy of Mark Kens at Flickr.com

In recent years, the term itself has evolved into a more digital one: its meaning is now inherently correlated to the variety of search engines. Customers, and given the degree of digital options people can use nowadays, and the degree to which information can be shared, have leaned towards a greater use of digital devices in order for them to gather information on a specific topic, and, as readers might have already realized, a business is not the exception. Purchasing decisions are now based on what customers find online about a specific business (or person), and, in this juncture, neither a business or a person want to appear online under a pejorative scheme —as it will definitely undermine their hope of getting more customers while keeping their own loyal. Although the previous example might sound somewhat extreme, what businesses and people should strive to is to appear in the first page of Google results, since people usually do not get past the third page when looking for something, and, being this the current scenario, companies should pay special attention to how the can develop the best reputation possible, and realize those things which they can control in order for them to attain a healthy reputation management.

Although certain aspects of reputation management lie solely with the customers, there are other issues that can be controlled by a business or a person using simple tools like social media profiles. Social Media has proven to be one of the most successful tools for companies to develop their reputation. Since the portion of customers better referred to as Millenials have driven the market to a more digital field, they are looking forward to interacting with the brands and the companies they currently use, as well as gathering information about new sites and companies —which, in turn, has made more difficult for a brand to keep them loyal. Nevertheless, whether it is an entrepreneur, a freelancer, a well-established company, a startup, regardless of the case, being proficient in the use of social media tools —LinkedIn, YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter, Google +, etc. is crucial, as Google and the other search engines find these sites highly reputable, therefore, it is more likely for one of this sites to appear in the first page of Google results than a company’s own website, for instance. Every time customers look up for something, or every time they browse across internet looking for something new or a way to serve their needs, they are more likely to find the company’s Facebook, or the company’s Twitter, or whatever form social media profile, whereby they will form their first impressions about something new, or whereby they will look forward to interacting should they have tried or purchased from that company before.



Courtesy of mkhmarketing at Flickr.com

This framework suggests that companies ought to develop greater social media skills so they can harness the degree to which these social media tools and websites impact a company’s reputation: having a strong, well-developed social media profile will result in a stronger online reputation and will likely rank much higher in the different search engines, which, ultimately, will result in more possible customers and in keeping older ones loyal in the long run. Moreover, if social media does not necessarily enhances a business’s activity: meaning these will not act as a customer magnet, for instance; or that that specific business, given the nature of its activity, cannot benefit that much from social media profiles, it is really advisable, regardless of this juncture, to still acquire and manage a strong and healthy social media profile, not just one, but several, as, and in accordance to the fact mentioned before, search engines value —or use, better said— these sites’ URL more than other given the degree of reputability they entail.

At Blogzuola we understand that the fourth industrial revolution, and Millenials, brought a new way of communication, and those companies seeking to attain a stronger and healthy online presence should definitely consider changing older marketing paradigms.

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