It goes without saying that social media has revolutionised marketing and brand management since its explosion a number of years ago. Many digital brands use it to further engage with target audiences, anticipate market trends and also build their online presence. Many books, papers and articles in circulation today on the web list the endless positives, potentials and power of social media in business operations.
We’d like to take a closer look on the other darker side of social media and the problems it can present for scaling enterprises:
1. Viral nature:
For many marketers increasing your global reach is a key objective when developing digital marketing strategies. Naturally enough, the viral nature and ‘share’ potential of social media sounds like music to marketers ears. Large groups of people can be reached in a millisecond. By the same token, incorrect, fraudulent and defamatory content can be spread about your brand just as quickly. Monitoring of what is being said about your brand, where it is being said and who is saying it are key to the maintenance of your brand’s online health. Although you cannot control what is being posted about your brand, you can control how you approach and handle such situations.
2. Brand- jackers & Impersonators
Social media sites are often used as platforms for brand impersonators to post abusive content to damage your brand reputation, divert web traffic to other sites or leverage your brand equity for their own gain. Since 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed in the United States stating that online platforms like youtube, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Amazon and so forth are not liable for any intellectual property violations operating through their sites. Digital brands must take matters into their own hands in tackling various violations.
3. Online Consumer forums
Although fostering online communities is generally considered helpful in enhancing relationships between digital brands and their customers, online forums also can present negative downsides. If unmonitored, negative brand sentiment can spiral out of control and badly impact on a companies bottom line. Some recent online studies highlighted that 84% of online shoppers refer to at least one social media site for recommendations before shopping online. This proves the immense power of social media in influencing consumers. Enterprises need to monitor their brand sentiment on an ongoing basis.
Many enterprises today invest huge amounts of capital developing their social media strategy and data analytics. Developing a brand reputation monitoring strategy will help your brand can stay in touch with public perception. The greatest drive in converting a prospective customer to an actual customer lies in your brands ability to build trust. Ultimately, brand reputation monitoring and brand health auditing will be key to the success of your digital brand.
dotNice – Experts in digital brand protection
For more information on brand reputation monitoring email: brandprotection-emea@dotnice.com
