Think social media is just for politicians and millennials? Think again.

The digital transformation is complete for most businesses — and a strong presence on social media is more critical than ever to business success.

More than three billion people around the world use social media every month. And Sherpa Marketing found that more people follow brands on social media than they do celebrities.

In this eBook, we’ll take a closer look at the way in which social media can influence consumer opinion about your brand, and what you can do to help steer the conversation in the right direction. You’ll learn:

• The risks of not managing your social presence
• Why businesses must focus on social media management
• Challenges and considerations for enterprises
• How to select the right social media management solution for your business

What happens on social channels is shaping consumer sentiment about your products and services, and ultimately, your brand. Social media is where online reputation begins.

The Risks of Not Managing Your Social Presence

A negative post can annihilate a stellar reputation in minutes.

Remember United Airlines? A post of a passenger being dragged off a flight went viral, and the company’s reputation plummeted, causing its stock to fall 1.1% and its market value took a $1 billion nosedive — all in one day.

But it’s not enough to simply monitor and advertise — you have to respond.

Gartner found that not answering customers on social channels can lead to a 15% increase in the churn rate for existing customers. And timing is everything: Nearly half of Twitter users surveyed (42%) expect companies to respond to an inquiry within an hour.

The good news is 71% of consumers ¹ are more likely to recommend a brand to others if they have a positive experience with it on social media. Real-time monitoring, alerting and responding is essential to identifying problems and resolving them quickly, before they have a negative impact on the perception of your brand.

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Jeff Bezos
CEO of Amazon

Responding Quickly to Customer Complaints Makes People Willing to Pay More in the Future

A study of tweets to airlines shows that when a tweet is answered in five minutes or less, the customer will pay almost $20 more for a ticket on that airline in the future².

Additional Amount Willing to Pay ($US)

¹ SocialMediaToday
² Twitter Blog

The Business of Social Media

A strong social presence has benefits well beyond marketing and metrics. Let’s take a closer look:

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Challenges and Considerations for Enterprises

B2B and B2C enterprises are catching up on incorporating social media in their marketing strategies, but they face very different challenges.

With hundreds or thousands of locations — each with its own social presence and local community — considerations about resources, data management and governance are much more significant for large national or global brands.

Resources — People, Process and Technology

The 2017 State of Social Marketing Report, which shares survey results from 2,738 social media marketing professionals from 111 countries, reports 44.8% of brands surveyed need analytics software to help with analyzing data from social, and 44.2% need more personnel specifically focused on social media.

To make matters worse, social media doesn’t sleep. According to research from Convince and Convert, 57% of consumers contacting a brand on social expect the same response time at night and on weekends as during normal business hours — within 30-60 minutes.

Failing to respond promptly to a viral post or negative comment left after hours can have significant impact on your reputation.

Data Management — or Lack Thereof
Social media channels are packed full of data that can lead to amazing insights about your customers — but how do you collect and analyze data across the web for all your locations when resources are already taxed?The State of Social Marketing Report found measuring ROI was listed as the top challenge for social media marketers, and 24.4% struggle to use social data to inform marketing strategies. The report suggests comprehensive analytics solutions can solve this problem by simplifying social data collection and analysis — but point solutions may be cost prohibitive for some enterprises.What About Governance?
Control over approval workflows and use of approved content is critical to protect your overall reputation; but many social media management tools aren’t built to accommodate large, distributed teams. Multi-location enterprises may have many contributors posting to social channels, making it difficult — if not impossible — to ensure all locations share high-quality, brand-compliant content across channels.

The Answer: Social Media Management

As social media channels continue to proliferate, so do opportunities for consumers to share feedback and experiences. Investing in a robust social media management solution enables you to scale your operation and overcome the challenges of managing social engagement and advertising across your enterprise.

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it.”

Waren Buffett
Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Choosing the Right Social Media Management Solution

Here are some key capabilities to look for in a social media management solution:

Success Hinges on a Strong Social Presence

Today, 88% of consumers trust online recommendations and opinions about brands, services and products as much as recommendations from friends and family. But the importance of social media to business success isn’t limited to B2C — 75% of B2B buyers rely on social channels to assist them in making purchasing decisions.

Given these numbers, it’s safe to say that businesses that lack effective social media management will fall behind and lose business to more social-savvy competitors.

Market leaders — in any industry or market sector — will take advantage of social media as a means of connecting with customers, building brand awareness and reputation, and improving customer experience with valuable insights gained from tuning in and taking action.