In part three of our four part series on 20 best practices for managing your online reputation, we look at how brands can optimise their reach and influence.
Reach and influence are two key aspects of a brand's online reputation. In our Digital Marketing Glossary, Facebook France Marketing Manager, Brice Vinocour, defined reach as "the number of people who have received impressions from a publication. [This] may be less than the number of impressions, since a person can view multiple impressions, that is, have seen the same publication several times."
Here are 5 best practices marketers can consider:
11. Defining "reach" for your brand.
Begin with the end in mind and ask these questions:
- What kind of reach are you considering? Organic or paid?
- Which social media platform are you trying to reach?
- Are you considering owned or earned media, or both?
When analysing reach, it is also important to look beyond vanity metrics, such as number of re-tweets/shares of a certain post or article. After all, sharing or re-tweeting is not indicative of whether the user has fully read and digested the content.
It is also important to consider that not all shares are equal - for example, a news website would reach more people than a Twitter user because the former commands a higher readership online than an ordinary customer who is merely sharing his or her experiences.
12. Considering earned media
It goes without saying that earned media is crucial in expanding a brand's reach. These include:
- News articles
- Consumer reviews on forums like TripAdvisor and Yelp!
- Content shared on social media
As Richard Branson said, your brand is not what you say it is, but what people say it is. Often, customers are trawling through peer reviews and articles before deciding to purchase a particular product or service, and brands would do well to ensure that these "earned media" are reaching customers with the most favourable angle.
13. The power of images
Thanks to the rise of platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Tumblr, photo and video sharing has become more pervasive than ever - and this trend will continue to grow as social media channels evolve to include messaging and live video functions.
For this brands, this presents a challenge in terms of social listening. As social media users rely more and more on photos and videos to share their experiences, how can marketers maintain a 360 view of their online reputation, without textual references like captions to indicate a brand's presence in a particular posting? How does the appearance of a logo, product or service in a photo or video contribute to the overall image of a brand?
Thus, it is important to integrate technology that can help to recognise certain brand symbols and logos, into one's existing social listening suite.
14. Thinking of using influencers for your next campaign?
Whether you're a new brand that is trying to gain exposure, or an established one looking to better engage one's customers online, influencers are a valuable asset for communicating your brand's story to their audience.
The trick is to identify the right one for your brand, and this depends on the following:
- Number of followers
- Number of engaged followers
- Are their content and image in line with what you are selling?
15. Establishing your brand as an industry leader.
Besides using influencers, brands can further connect with their customers by establishing themselves as an industry leader. This applies to both B2C and B2B brands, where customers are increasingly attracted to brands that appear invested in their interest, not just to sell.
Good content and social selling by a company's top management are just some of the ways brands can build their "thought leadership."
Stay tuned for part 4, where we reveal the last 5 best practices for managing your brand's online reputation! In the meantime, we've got more titbits on reach, influence and other key digital marketing concepts in this free guide:
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