Small businesses with social media accounts are likely being discussed online, whether it’s good or bad. When developing a social media marketing strategy, one of the goals you set may be to increase engagements and interactions, which could naturally increase your mentions. A social mention occurs when someone uses your company name in a Facebook post, a tweet, a comment on Instagram, or mentions it on any other platform. Every social mention is important for social media marketing, and here’s what you need to know about them.

Managing Your Reputation With Social Mentions

Every business, large and small, has to work on reputation management constantly. It’s especially important to manage and monitor your reputation on social media. Although it may take years to develop a solid business reputation, it can come crashing down in a matter of minutes or hours with one wrong step. By monitoring your social mentions, you can protect your reputation and get ahead of any issues before they spiral out of control. No business is perfect, but when you see an issue brewing with a customer or a set of customers, you can diffuse the problem and turn the negative situation into a positive one for your reputation.

Monitor The Social Mentions Of Your Competitors

Another way to effectively utilize social mentions is by monitoring the mentions your competitors get. This doesn’t mean bashing your competitors every time they receive a negative mention, nor does it mean engaging in the positive mentions they receive. What you’re looking for is an opportunity to promote your business without attacking competitors. Potential customers will often mention a brand via social media and ask for help or have a specific question about their services. When you see this, your social media strategy can be to comment on their post and tell them a little bit about the services you offer, or simply offer to assist them. If you are quicker to respond to posts of this nature than your competitors are, you may be able to effectively steal business away from them and give your brand some more exposure at the same time.

Customers Want Issues Resolved Via Social Media

Online marketing has evolved to the point where more customers than ever before want issues resolved without picking up the phone or visiting a physical store. This means bringing up a complaint or an issue via social media and expecting a prompt reply. Without monitoring social mentions, you could miss out on an opportunity to quickly resolve a customer issue and potentially lead to larger issues. And if this happens, you’re leaving the door open to competitors coming in and taking business away from you, as well as potentially damaging your reputation in the process.

Blazing Social is here to help you develop a comprehensive social media strategy that encompasses using social mentions to your advantage. Social media is an incredibly valuable tool to use, but it can also be used against you if you don’t use it properly. If you have any questions or concerns about effectively utilizing your social mentions, contact us today to see how we can help.