Are you or your business staying away from Social Media?

I recently came across a business that said that they did not think it was a good strategy for their business to engage people using Social Media. Their main concern was with the potential of negative comments posted on their pages by customers of their product.

As we did a simple search, we found that there was a Group create on Facebook for their product with over 80 members. All the conversations on the page were positive and informative.

Here are some key points to take into consideration:

Millions of conversations take place every day on Social Media platforms like Facebook, Linked In, Twitter and YouTube. As the new source of engaging interactive media, consumers are realizing that these are great platforms to express their like and dislikes. People now have a real time voice that can affect a business or product.

Negative comments: Its important to hear what your customers think about your product or services. Providing them with the ability to share their experiences can build a loyal relationship. Negative comments are a great opportunity to show fans that their opinions matter. Turn a negative into a positive by providing solutions for concerns or frustrations. Use these as opportunities to make changes that can increase sales and revenues for your business. If enough fans feel the same way about a product or services, its obvious that there needs to be a change.

In some cases, there are negative posts that do not warrant a response. Some people do use these platforms as an avenue to create harm. That is why it is important to take control and provide true fans with the official page for your business. In a case like this, you can remove any comment with a click of the mouse.

I have had some interesting situations happen with some clients where other fans came in defense in the company.

Positive Comments: Reward positive comments with a response. If someone compliments your product or services, respond with a comment to show appreciation or to engage in a conversation. This is very important to build costumer loyalty and personality for your brand. A simple thank you can go a long way.

Viral Distribution is described by Wikipedia as follows:

Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses or computer viruses. It can be delivered by word of mouth or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet.[1] Viral marketing may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or text messages.

In simple terms: Viral distribution is the sharing of content from user to user. As information is shared throughout the social media platforms, the more eyeballs there will be on that content. Creating conversations on these posts increase the visibility and increase the potential for additional people to join the conversation.

Companies like Samepoint offer users the ability to search throughout the major Social Media Platforms to see what users are talking about your business.

Samepoint Reputation Management Search Engine

Bottom line is that there is a good chance that there has been a mention of your business in a conversation using Social Media. Take control and use these platforms as tools to maximize your marketing.