Let’s face it, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp aren’t rocket science. It’s not too difficult to figure out the ins and outs of most social media and review websites for your business. With that said, I’ve always believed that it’s better to hire someone to do something that you are good at, but they are great at. But recently a few instances opened my eyes to a few other reasons business owners should have someone outside of their company manage or at least oversee/consult on this process. I’m going to keep adding to this as they pop-up, but below are 3 reasons that are top of mind.
#1 Emotions – Your business is your baby, you’ve built it and worked hard to deliver the best product you can. Yes, you and your staff mess up time to time, but who doesn’t. Does that give a customer the right to SLAM you with a negative review online!!!! YES IT DOES, unfortunately and you have to learn to take the emotion out of it. This is probably the toughest aspect of managing your online reputation. You take pride in your business and these reviews are like a punch to the stomach. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had clients boil over after 1 negative online review and want to put that customer on blast. This is where outside eyes help. @e aren’t tied to the situation, they didn’t just kick our baby. An outside consultant should be able to look at every situation, come up with a politically correct response and put out the fire on this negative review.
#2 Employees – I’ve seen instances where something happens on Facebook that reflects poorly on one of your staff and that person or a friend covers it up instead of fixing it. If an outside source is monitoring your pages then this won’t happen. The issue will get addressed no matter who was involved.
#3 Time – You’re running a business, not a marketing firm. You need to keep your eye on the prize. The minute you take your eyes off what makes your business tick then you lose. That’s what can easily happen with Social Media. A 5 minute session on Facebook to answer some questions turns into 2 hours and before you know it you’ve ignored the customers walking in the door.