Many car dealers are becoming increasingly intrigued about online reputation management and monitoring. With countless ways for consumers, and competitors, to voice their opinions online, it’s becoming important to listen to what’s being said on consumer review websites, blogs, and social media.
If you aren’t embracing online marketing to promote your website, or even if you don’t have a website, you still have an online reputation to consider! Online media is about a conversation, and if you’re not contributing to the conversation, it won’t stop people from talking.
The best way to dive into the proactive of online reputation management is simply to start listening. High profile social media websites are a great place to start. These websites include Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter to name just a few. For any car dealer, local search portals and review sites like CitySearch and Yelp are also important to check out to gauge what people are saying about your website. Needless to say, sites specifically within the automotive niche, such as DealerRater.com, are also helpful in identifying what customers are saying about your dealership.
One of the best ways to begin monitoring your online reputation is to simply create a free Google account which will enable you to take advantage of a number of helpful tools and resources.
The first resource to look into is Google News. Thanks to its RSS functionality, you can easily keep track of the specific news you want to stay on top of, such as information on the automotive industry or other local news. While Google News covers news and events across the world and across the web, you can use keywords to narrow-in on the specific news you seek.
Another important tool for online reputation monitoring is Google Alerts. If you’re not a fan of RSS feeds, simply add the keywords that you’re interested in, such as your dealership name or the name of your competitors, and Google Alerts will email you each time news or other recent content is found that addresses those keywords.
Google Blog Search is Google’s search destination for finding out what’s happening in the blogosphere. These days, many car dealers have their own blogs, and so do your customers. By utilizing options for email alerts or RSS, you can keep track of what car buyers and your competitors are saying.
Online reputation management and monitoring is not exclusively performed by large corporations. Small and medium sized businesses should also be gauging the pulse of their industry and local area. Of course reputation monitoring will also allow businesses to see what it is they’re doing right or doing wrong in the eyes of their customers.
* * *
Read other stories concerning online reputation management shortly!
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }