Whether you like it or not, people are talking about you behind your back. Those people are your customers, and by ‘behind your back’ we mean online. And that can be a great thing! But only when you’re aware of what’s been said, so you can engage with and manage feedback both good and bad.
It’s critically important to manage your brand mentions and respond to them appropriately. The more automated you can make this process, the better, as we’ll explore below.
But first, let’s cover what you can and should be tracking across social media.
Brand Mentions on Social Media
Perhaps you’re tempted to put your head in the sand or your fingers in your ears, but reality persists. And the reality is that if you deal with the public in any capacity, you can expect people to be talking about you online.
Social media monitoring for brand mentions means paying attention to everything that people are saying about you online. Many companies also like to pay attention to mentions of their competitors as well.
So, what exactly you are listening for? You’re listening for anytime your brand name comes up, on any platform. Sometimes people will tag you in their comments, and sometimes they won’t. Sometimes they’ll use relevant hashtags, and sometimes they won’t. Either way, you want to hear it.
And why exactly are you listening? The reason is twofold. First, you want to be able to manage and possibly help shape the narrative. If people have complaints about you, you want to get ahead of the problem. If you people are raving about you, you want to engage with them and help them spread the love. If they have questions, you want to answer them. If they have concerns or suggestions, you want to hear them and possibly address them.
Everyone wants to be a fly on the wall, and by monitoring your brand mentions, you get to be a fly on the wall that can also do damage control when necessary.
And the second reason to pay attention is that listening to what real customers are saying about you can give you invaluable feedback you can use to help your business excel.
Managing Your Brand Mentions Automatically
There are lots of online tools and apps that you can use to be notified when your company is being discussed in any way. Even something as simple as Google Alerts can do the trick. Remember that things move quickly online, so you want to be getting your notifications in real-time.
And if you’re on a platform like Facebook or Twitter, you’ll get automatically notified whenever someone tags you.
But then what? There’s a big difference between getting notified about a brand mention and being able to respond to that brand mention well.
In our experience, business owners are often too busy to engage with social media on a regular basis. And being able to handle real-time comments, especially negative ones, is a special skill.
That’s why we’ve developed a highly trained Response Team that can monitor your entire Social Footprint and help you quickly respond and manage critical social incidents. Our in-depth focus on the finer details of your social media presence, including your social mentions, can help guide your brand growth in both the short and long-term.
We promise to help you respond to your brand mentions and customers in the right way, every time. Get a custom quote here.