Daniel Craig www.DanielEdwardCraig.com

Twitter @dcraig

Reputation: The ROI of Social Networking

Image: references.dnb.com

Reputation is what people say about you after you leave the room.

What is reputation?

Mary Smith

Daniel Craig

Jane's on the Common restaurant Halifax

Do you consult user reviews and ratings?

Books, electronics: Amazon, CNET, eBay

Movies, TV, music: IMDB.com, iTunes

Local businesses: Yelp, Google+ Local

Doctors & Teachers: RateMDs.com, RateMyProfessors.com

Recipes: allrecipes.com, Epicurious

Travel: TripAdvisor, Expedia, Gogobot

Social media has changed how consumers:

1. Research purchases: Seeking opinions of other consumers and friends in social networks.

2. Make decisions: Reputation now rivals price, location and brand in influence.

3. Share experiences: Before, during and after purchases.

Word of mouth is now public, scalable and measurable.

NIELSEN GLOBAL TRUST SURVEY 2012

Online reputation management

The process of tracking, reporting and reacting to online feedback and opinions about a company and its people, products and services.

Building awareness and shaping impressions

Using customer feedback to guide decisions

It’s not just a marketing function.

Online reputation management tactics

White Hat • Listen and engage • Share helpful content • Be authentic and transparent

Black Hat • Ignore feedback • Game the system • Trick and deceive

The old “bait & switch” routine

The old “bait & switch” routine

The risks

DISAPPOINTMENT

BACKLASH

Manage Content

• Travellers are calling

• Helpful, relevant content increases visibility, drives traffic and helps conversions

1. User-generated content: reviews, photos, video, likes, commentary

2. Hotel-generated content: local info, news, descriptions, photos, video.

• The Internet: the new telephone

• Inbound marketing: fresh, relevant content increases visibility, traffic and conversions

Focus on two types of content:

1. User-generated (higher trust, lower control): reviews, photos, video, likes, commentary

2. Business-generated (higher control, lower trust): info, descriptions, photos, video, stories

Claim listings and keep content fresh

Google+ Local

Yelp

TripAdvisor

Facebook Places

Bing Local

Yahoo! Local

Foursquare

Distributors

Perform a reputation audit

My company

Monitor and Analyze

Are you ready for total transparency?

Respond & Engage

Responding guidelines

1. Thank the commenter

2. Apologize

3. Address key issues

4. Say how you’re following up

Be conversational and professional, not defensive

If false, set the record straight – diplomatically

If fraudulent, dispute with host site

Respond to negative and positive reviews

Intel policy: the good, the bad, but not the ugly.

A better response

I am so sorry for the problems you’ve had with registration.

We were caught unprepared for the huge response to our

LivingSocial promotion. I am happy to report that we now

have our house back in order. Please contact me personally,

and it would be my pleasure to make arrangements.

Dave Smith

Owner/Manager

Your reputation under attack

Act swiftly and respond in kind

Don’t be heavy-handed

Be prepared

What to do about negative content?

Fix the problem

Go to the source

Legal action – last resort

Mark unhelpful; flag as inappropriate

Generate new content.

Offline: turn feedback into action

1. Criticism is inevitable; welcome it

2. Share with staff

3. Show leadership: listen, learn, move on

4. Train staff to prevent double deviations and escalation

5. Use feedback to guide decisions.

“The trouble with most of us is

that we would rather be ruined by praise than

saved by criticism.”

Norman Vincent Peale

REVIEWS & FEEDBACK

IMPROVEMENTS

LOYALTY & ADVOCACY

MORE CUSTOMERS

THE VIRTUOUS

CIRCLE

Build advocacy

Make sharing, commenting and reviewing easy

Ask for reviews: in person, business cards, on email, on website

Don’t offer incentives

Set realistic expectations; train and empower staff to exceed them

Be remarkable: worth remarking about.

What’s the ROI of social networking?

YOUR REPUTATION

www.DanielEdwardCraig.com

Twitter @dcraig

Questions and comments? For more information