Social Media Does Not Offer a Shortcut to a Good Reputation

Social media can be a tool for creating a reputation for your small business, but it should only be one tool among many.

Social Media Supplements a Reputation

In an age where instant communication has led to an expectation for instantaneous results, social media platforms are often viewed as a way to develop a reputation for reliability and customer service. Despite all that has changed in the world over the past ten years, one thing that has not has changed is that you usually cannot rush success.

While you can set up countless social media sites, and find friends to link to your business, without high quality customer service and products that customers are happy to buy, there is no business success.

Social media fits well into the framework for immediate communications. However, it does little to build a reputation for quality. If the customer enjoys their experience, they may post a comment about their experience on a social media site. Rather than being the objective of customer service, social media is actually just another outlet for customers to describe their experience.

Social Media Can Boost Sales

It is possible that a well conceived social media campaign could increase your sales. There are many ways to use coupons and specials on social media web sites to potentially increase your business. However, none of those techniques can overcome a negative perception in the minds of customers. A social media promotion might deliver a temporary increase in sales, but it will take good service to keep customers coming back.

Generating sales will be the ultimate measure of business success, and it is one way to measure the success of reputation management. The truth is that consumers rarely turn to businesses with reputations for low quality and poor customer service when an alternative is available. If your business can earn a reputation for quality, that should lead to increased sales and profits.