Why Social Media Reputation Management is Critical for Your Business | Fluency Media. Once, all you needed to monitor your brand’s reputation was a newspaper subscription, a TV remote control, and an eager intern. The web complicated the process, but a simple search would still unearth any nasty comments tucked in a dark corner of the Internet. Before social media, any disparaging remarks would sit, mostly ignored, until they were pushed off the page by other content or removed.
No longer. Twitter and Facebook have given customers and competitors a stage and a megaphone to wreak havoc on any brand. They don’t need your permission and you can’t opt-out of social media. Reputation management used to be a luxury reserved for large brands with massive agency resources. Here’s the rub, submitting a rebuttal press release with the facts will do nothing to douse the flames. Conscientious brands require a new socially-powered process for protecting and building their brands image.
Ignoring the Social Web is A Business Killer This is just the tip of the iceberg. First Steps Good News. Google Places Is Over, Company Makes Google+ The Center Of Gravity For Local Search. When Google+ and Google+ Pages for business were introduced a little less than a year ago many people in the local search arena began anticipating the day when Google would merge or integrate Google Places and Google+ Pages. Well, today is that day. Google Places pages have been entirely replaced by new Google+ Local pages.
As of this morning roughly 80 million Google Place pages worldwide have been automatically converted into 80 million Google+ Local pages, according to Google’s Marissa Mayer. It’s a dramatic change (for the better) though it will undoubtedly disorient some users and business owners. (See our related Google+ specific coverage, New Google+ Local Tab Unveiled, Will Replace Google Places, at Marketing Land.) A Range Of Changes Implemented Here’s a brief overview of what’s new and what’s changing: Static Places now give way to more dynamic Google+ Local pages. Below is an example SERP for “burgers near Seattle.” Consistent Experience, Several Doorways Discovery . . . Publications Social Media Impacts Business Value, Marketing Operations 12/27.
Social media created a lot of buzz and controversy in the past several years. But the main question remains: “Does it have an impact on sales?” And what effect does it have on marketing? Two studies that were done this year aim to answer this question. According to Ogilvy’s recent study “Does investing in social media create business value?” Social media indeed has a strong impact on sales as well as brand perception.
Social media exposure is directly linked with increases in sales. *Those exposed to social media + PR increased their spending by 17% over the previous time period. *Those exposed to social media + TV were twice as likely to buy. *Those exposed to social media were 7 times more likely to spend more. *Social media + OOH exposure was linked to 1.5X higher likelihood of increase in spend. *Exposure to multiple channels was most often associated with sales impact. *Integration matters. Social media is the top driver of impact. There are two sides to the ROI. SpeakSocial - Your Online Voice, Hand Crafted. What Online Marketing Costs | ReachLocal.
ReachCast Blog: Web Presence Optimization for Local Business.