Tag: Brand Recognition

10 Ways Your Business Can Give Back to the Community Part 2

Posted on by Robyn Rivera

If you’ve had a chance to read many of our featured articles about Top Rated Local® award winners, then you are already familiar with the fact that we always make it a point to ask about a business’ mission and how they give back to the world and their community. While most of what we do is focused on a business’ online reputation, much of that online reputation is forged in their community, and it’s a key part in a business’ success.

Building a strong online reputation starts by building a strong reputation within your community.

Contrary to popular belief, your business’ online reputation is not a separate entity than your business’ reputation within your community. In fact, they are a lot more entwined than you might think. If you take a few minutes to think about all of those people who are writing reviews for your business and those people who are reading reviews about your business, you’ll find that most — if not all of them — are people who, like you, live and work in the community. They are your friends, family and neighbors, and what they think of you will absolutely be reflected in your business’ online reputation.

Because your reputation within your community plays such a vital role in your online reputation, in our last blog, we went over five ways that small businesses can give back to the community. Keep reading to learn about five more.

Five Things Your Business Can do to Give Back to Your Community

#6. Donate your services and skills.

When people think of volunteering, they often imagine themselves dishing out servings at a soup kitchen or building a house with Habitat for Humanity, but volunteering can be a lot more personal than that, especially if you’re in the service industry. In fact, one of the biggest ways you can give back and make a name for yourself as a giving company is to donate your services and skills!

As a professional, you’ve been educated and trained, and you have a very special set of skills that you can offer the world and your community. For example, if you’re a pet groomer, you could donate your skills by grooming animals at a shelter before an adoption event. If you are a roofer, you could donate roof repairs to people in need after a hail storm.

Not only does this apply to service-based businesses; businesses that sell products can also get in on the action by donating excess merchandise or out-of-season items.

#7. Have a collection jar.

As you can see, there are many avenues for giving back and being a more charitable business. Some of them take more time and energy than others, and if you’re looking for an easy, stress-free way to give back, you’ll love the simplicity of a collections jar. In fact, all you have to do is pick a charity/cause, make a sign and set out a jar, and your customers and clients will do the rest.

You may not get a whole lot of publicity by setting out a jar, but this is one of the simplest ways to start giving back, and the beauty of it is how little time and effort it takes on the part of the business owner or management.

#8. Offer up your space.

If you have a brick and mortar shop, warehouse or office, another super-easy way to give back is by simply offering up your space for charitable events. Reserving a venue can be pricey, and when nonprofits host events, you can greatly reduce their costs by offering up your space for free.

By offering up your space, not only are you giving back to a charity or organization without actually having to utilize your resources, but you’re also gaining invaluable visibility for your business.

#9. Go green!

In 2017, Cone conducted a survey to determine the importance of corporate social responsibility, and what they found was astounding:

  • 87 percent of respondents said that they view companies more positively when they support environmental or social issues.
  • 92 percent of respondents said that they are more likely to trust a company that supports social or environmental issues.
  • 68 percent of millennial respondents say that they have bought a product that has a social or environmental benefit.

If you’ve been wondering whether or not consumers actually care about the environment, you’ve got your answer, and it’s a resounding yes. Making it a point to go green within your business is a great way to give back to the world and to your community while also curbing your energy costs and reducing your carbon footprint.

Going green doesn’t have to mean installing solar panels on your roof or investing in electric company vehicles. In fact, there are a ton of small changes you can make that make a huge impact:

  • Go paperless
  • Invest in company water bottles instead of disposable cups
  • Start recycling
  • Set your lights on timers

#10. Make giving back a part of your company’s culture.

A lot of people think of giving back as a one-time thing, like a donation or a volunteer way, but if you truly want your business to have a reputation as one that makes your community and the world a better place, it starts with your company culture. To do this, you need volunteerism and charity in your veins and in the DNA of your business.

One of the best ways to instill a sense of community and social responsibility in your company culture is by incentivizing giving back. For example, if one of your employees volunteers at the homeless shelter, allow him or her to dress casually for work or take an extra hour for lunch.

Giving back just makes you feel good, and a lot of times, it will just take a small push from you to encourage your employees to donate their time and/or money to a cause they are passionate about.

Build the kind of reputation you want online and offline.

Your business’ online and offline reputation go hand in hand, and every successful business owner understands the need to have a strong reputation both in their community and online. Making a name for your business as one that gives back and stands behind their community will help to make your local brand unbeatable, and here at Top Rated Local, we can help you make your online reputation one to remember as well.

By helping business owners avoid common pitfalls, like fake reviews, blackmail, competitor reviews and more, we can help you take more ownership of your online reputation and mold it into what you want it to be. In addition to reviews, we utilize five pillars of the customer experience, allowing your clients and customers to highlight what they think is most important, and giving you more valuable feedback than you’d get from reviews alone. Best of all, it doesn’t cost anything for you to become a Top Rated Local business!

Are you ready to build a strong reputation both online and in your community? If so, take the first step by listing your business for free with Top Rated Local today! Visit us online now to get started.

10 Ways Your Business Can Give Back to the Community Part 1

Posted on by Robyn Rivera

In every interview we have with our Top Rated Local® award winners, we ask what the business’ mission is and how they work to make the world a better place. Not only does this question help to highlight the humanity and passion in our award-winning businesses, but it also helps to highlight one very important piece of success for the modern-day business — giving back.

There are so many ways that your business can give back to your community and the world.

In our last article — The Benefits of Giving Back Your Community — we highlighted just a few of the ways that giving back and becoming a more socially conscious company can benefit your business. If you’ve had a chance to read it, then you know just how important giving back can be to your brand, your business and your success.

Making it a point to give back can help with everything from employee retention to productivity and brand recognition, and if you’d love to enjoy the many benefits of giving back, you’ll be glad to know that you have tons of options at your disposal. Giving back doesn’t have to look the same for your company as it does for another local business in your area, and with a little help from our team, you’ll find that there’s no shortage of possibilities at your disposal.

Five Things Your Business Can do to Give Back to Your Community

#1. Organize or sponsor a fundraiser.

There are so many ways to give back, and one of the most straightforward is to help financially support a cause that you’re passionate about. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to donate a huge chunk of your profits, either. Organizing or sponsoring a fundraiser for the cause or organization is a great way to raise money for that cause.

#2. Sponsor a local sports team!

Sports are as American as apple pie, and kids who participate in sports learn all kinds of invaluable lessons that they can take with them into adulthood, from how to have a healthy competitive spirit to sportsmanship and teamwork. However, not every child in the United States comes from a family that can afford to enroll them in even sports programs at public schools.

In fact, according to a TD Ameritrade survey, 63 percent of American families spend between $100 and $499 every month on youth sports. Fifty-five percent of those respondents said that they cut back on entertainment, 40 percent said they take fewer vacations and 23 percent said they cut back on retirement savings in order to cover the costs of youth sports.

This makes local recreational teams an essential and valuable asset for these people, and as a business, you can play a big part in that by sponsoring a local sports team.

#3. Encourage your team to volunteer.

As the owner of a small business, there are a lot of things that fall on your lap and no one else’s, but you’ll be glad to know that giving back to your community doesn’t have to be one of those things. Sure, you can and should lead by example, but one of the best ways to show the world that your business is one that cares is by giving back as a team.

One effective way to encourage your team to volunteer in the community is by giving them a certain number of paid volunteer hours — this way, they can volunteer for causes they are passionate about, they have more flexibility to choose when they volunteer and they are getting a break from the office and the day-to-day grind, improving their job satisfaction.

Another way you could encourage your employees to volunteer is to have an annual volunteer day where you shut down all business operations and volunteer as a team.

#4. Donate a portion of your profits.

One of the best ways to make a name for your business as one that gives back is to donate a portion of your profits. This can look like many different things:

  • You could donate a percentage of the profits from a specific day or time of the day.
  • You could donate a percentage of the profits from a specific product or service.
  • You could donate a percentage of the profits for categories of services or products.

Whatever route you choose, giving back in this way can benefit your business in a big way. When you advertise that a portion of the proceeds will go to a good cause, you’re also advertising your business and the product or service you want to highlight. Or, if you’re donating your profits based on a certain day or time, you’ll be driving more traffic during your business during those periods. Either way, it’s a win for you and your community!

#5. Support other local businesses.

When people think of giving back, they often think of donating money or volunteering their time, but it doesn’t have to be that straightforward. In fact, your day-to-day decisions, such as who you choose to source your materials from, can have a huge impact on your community, and one of the most effective ways to give back without having to sacrifice a whole lot of your time or money is to simply choose to work with other local businesses rather than large corporations.

There are a lot of great reasons to support local businesses — you’re putting money back into the community, you’re supporting local careers, you’re helping to keep the market competitive, etc. — but as a business, there are even more benefits. When you choose to work with a small business, you’re developing a valuable partnership and establishing beneficial community connections.

One other benefit of working with a local business is the increased access you’ll get. When you work with a corporate supplier, your business is just another number. But when you work with a local company, you’ll have the opportunity to talk with them face to face, which not only leads to better access but also better service.

Would you like to learn about five more ways that your business can give back to the community and make the world a better place? Stay tuned for part two!

Get listed for free on Top Rated Local to start taking control over your online reputation!

These days, it takes a great online and offline reputation to reach the widest audience, and while we can’t do much to help with your local reputation, we can help you take ownership of your online reputation and mold it into whatever you want it to be.

Unlike Yelp and the many other reviews sites out there, Top Rated Local is built on five pillars of the customer experience and designed to capture the overall customer experience like no other option out there. Top Rated Local empowers both businesses and consumers by solving everyday problems businesses face on typical reviews sites, like fake reviews, slanderous comments, blackmail, competitor reviews and more, and if you’d like to enjoy the many benefits of being a Top Rated Local business, it’s time to get started. The best part is that it’s absolutely free to get listed!

Take back your online reputation and become a Top Rated Local business by getting listed today!

The Benefits of Giving Back Your Community

Posted on by Robyn Rivera

Our 2019 Top Rated Local award winners are businesses that come from all over the United States and a wide range of industries — and many of them have made a name for themselves by giving back to their communities.

There are so many reasons to make giving back a top priority.

In our previous blog series — How to Make Your Brand Stand Out Online — we discussed several ways that you can set your brand apart from the many others online. However, there is one little-known way to make your brand stand out that we did not go over, which is getting involved in your community and working hard to make it better.

A lot of businesses today are on a tight budget and barely have enough time to keep up with all of their work, and we understand that it’s not easy to make the decision to sacrifice more of your time and money for the community, especially because it won’t directly benefit you. But even if the benefits aren’t direct, they are many, and they make giving back to your community more than worth your time and money.

The Top Eight Benefits of Giving Back to Your Community

#1. Build a positive reputation within your community.

Your online reputation matters quite a bit, but your reputation in the community arguably matters even more. Those people who write reviews about your business aren’t faceless drones; they’re your customers, and chances are, they live and work in the same community you do. The people searching for your business online are also people living in your community, and nothing can help to cement someone’s confidence when selecting a business to work with online than a strong online reputation backed up with a strong reputation within the community.

When you give back, you build a positive brand and a great reputation to your friends and neighbors. Word of mouth is nowhere near dead, and it’s the cheapest and most effective form of advertising. Best of all, word of mouth is also a side effect of building a positive reputation within your community.

#2. Improve employee morale, increase productivity, reduce turnover and attract the best talent.

As Baby Boomers reach retirement, a larger and larger chunk of the talent pool will be made up of Millennials. Millennials have made headlines for paving a different path than their parents and grandparents before them. While Millennials value stability, a healthy work/life balance and a steady paycheck, they also value purpose. And Generation Z — people born between 1994 and 2001 — is even more driven by passion, purpose and having an impact.

What does that mean for a business that wants to keep and attract the best talent? It means you need to give your employees a purpose and a passion, and one of the best ways to do that is by giving back to your community. Helping your employees become passionate about their jobs and your company will make them want to stick around longer, make them happier while they’re at work and even make them more productive!

According to research published in the Harvard Business Review:

  • Employees who are dissatisfied have a 71-percent productivity output.
  • Employees who are satisfied have a 100-percent productivity output.
  • Employees who are engaged have a 144-percent productivity output.
  • Employees who are inspired have a 225-percent productivity output!

#3. Set your business apart.

In this day and age, there’s no shortage of competition, and that’s true no matter what industry you’re in. If you want your business to not only survive but to thrive and to be successful, you need to figure out a way to set your business apart from your competition. And while lowering your prices and investing in state-of-the-art equipment and products are probably the most convenient ways to set your business apart, they can also adversely affect your bottom line. Luckily, giving back to your community — and to the world — can make your business stand out.

One of the best examples of this is TOMS Shoes. Those canvas slip-on shoes are adorable, but it’s not as if they’re a super unique product. You can find shoes like that in every department store and shopping center in the country, but what sets TOMS apart and makes people willing to spend a little more on their shoes is their commitment to social responsibility. TOMS is well known for donating a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased, and that key part of their business model has made the company explode.

#4. Gain new customers.

These days, when a business wants to grow and expand their client base, they typically invest in marketing and ads, which certainly is a great way to get noticed. However, it’s not as if your ad is the only one potential clients and customers will encounter, and you need to give them a great reason to choose you over the others. Of course, you offer high-quality service and affordable prices! But so does every other business. And as we mentioned in our last point, making it a point to give back can be a great way to set your business apart and gain new customers.

Your community isn’t just where you do your grocery shopping and go to the bank; it’s full of your potential customers and clients, and when you make the choice to give back to them, they’re going to notice. In fact, 88 percent of consumers say they would prefer to buy a product from a company that’s driven by a purpose.

#5. Build support within your community.

When you make it a point to give back to the people within your community and work hard to make the world a better place, people are going to sit up and notice, and when they do, they’re going to be passionate about your brand and willing to support you no matter what.

Not only will the people in your community be more willing to shop with you or rely on you when they need your services over the competition, but many of them will also spread the word for you! Interestingly enough, almost 80 percent of Americans say that they would advise their friends and family to buy products from a company that’s driven by a purpose.

#6. Get your name out there for free!

Visibility is key in today’s competitive business market. It’s easy to get lost in the crowd, but if you want to succeed, you should absolutely make staying visible a top priority. Of course, you could and should invest in marketing to get your name out there, but by giving back, you can generate great publicity without having to spend an arm and a leg.

All it takes is one blogger or reporter to pick up on your efforts to give back, and you’ll enjoy a ton of free publicity. But you don’t even have to wait for that! If your team volunteers to build a home for Habitat for Humanity, or if they organized a food drive for the local homeless shelter, take pictures of your team at work and share them on social media!

You can also get your customers involved in your efforts to give back, too! For example, you could offer a special discount or promotion for customers who volunteer with your team, or you could donate a portion of your funds for a day or on a certain product to charity.

#7. Make valuable connections in your community.

Chances are, there are a lot of other businesses out there you could send customers to, or that could send customers your way. For example, say you own a jewelry store that specializes in custom jewelry and repair. If you were to partner with a jewelry store that has a wide selection of options but may not handle repairs or offer custom pieces, partnering with them will mean more business for both of you and happier customers all around. And when you give back to your community, making those valuable connections is a lot easier.

When you volunteer and get involved in your community, you’ll meet like-minded people and business owners, without having to ever step foot in a networking event.

#8. Improve your bottom line!!

The fact is, when your business gives back and supports your community, your community will do the same for your business. There are a lot of business owners out there who are unsure of investing their time and money into their community because they have so few resources to begin with, but we’re here to tell you that doing so will eventually come back to you and help you make more money.

Many of the benefits we’ve already discussed affect your bottom line. Whether your employees are more productive, you lower your turnover rate, customers are more loyal to your or customers tell their friends and family about your business, it all comes back around and leaves you with a little more money in your pocket.

Now that you know about the benefits of giving back, it’s time to learn how you can give back — make sure you stay tuned for our next blog!

Let us help you build the kind of online reputation you want.

As you can see, giving back to your community is a powerful way to build a strong offline and online reputation for your business, but that’s just one piece of the puzzle. At Top Rated Local, we can give you the tools you need to help you find the rest of those pieces and build the kind of online reputation any business owner would envy.

The first step is to get your business listed for free! Get started today.

How to Make Your Brand Stand Out Online Part 2

Posted on by Robyn Rivera

Top Rated Local has had the opportunity to interview some truly spectacular business owners this year. Our award winners are scattered across more than 50 industries and are as varied as they are numerous. However, each and every one of them has managed to make their brand stand out online and get noticed, and that’s something that’s invaluable this day and age.

A successful brand is one that stands out.

There’s a lot of competition out there, and that’s true if you own a restaurant, a jewelry store or a house cleaning company. People want to hire the best, but no matter the quality of your work, if you’re not in the running, they’ll never pick you. That’s why it’s of absolute importance that you build a brand that gets noticed and stands out.

If you haven’t already, check out part one of this blog series to learn about the first five things you can do to set your brand apart online. Keep reading to learn about five more.

Five More Things You Can do to Make Your Brand Stand Out Online

#6. Become a subject matter expert.

If you’re in the service industry, there’s a good chance you’ve rolled your eyes a time or two after a disastrous attempt to repair something by a DIY enthusiast. You can find a Youtube tutorial for just about anything these days, and as an expert in your field, there’s no one better to provide accurate information than you. This doesn’t mean that you have to give away secrets that would make your service obsolete. There is plenty of tips and advice you could share without giving away too much, and it will help you become a trusted subject matter expert.

Part of Google’s algorithm for ranking websites has to do with the authority of the content on the site. For example, Google will rank an interior designer’s article much higher if it was about the importance of finding the right color scheme than if it was about how to land an ollie on a skateboard. When you become a valuable resource, it helps people find you online more easily!

Another major benefit of becoming a subject matter expert is that other businesses will start to turn to write guest posts, which can lead to valuable links back to your website. You don’t have to limit your expertise to blog posts, either. Have a question/answer session with your customers on Facebook, or share tips and tricks on Twitter.

#7. Tell your story.

From the time we’re young, people love stories. We consume stories in the form of books, television shows, movies, video games and more, and one of the most impactful things you can do to humanize your brand and make it stand out is to tell your story in a way that people can connect with.

What if your story isn’t particularly inspirational? Not every business was founded by someone who beat all of the odds, and not every story pulls at the heartstrings. But your story doesn’t necessarily have to be the story of how your business was founded. You could share a story of how you helped a customer in an impactful way, or the story of why you do what you do in the first place.

#8. Build a brand that promotes others.

Networking is a great way to make partnerships that lead to increased support and more business, but too many business owners make the mistake of believing that networking is only something that happens face to face. While person-to-person networking is powerful and can’t be underestimated, another great way to connect with other businesses and important contacts is to promote them online.

Why is it smart to be a promoter? Every business says that they’re the best, and while it’s good to be confident in your service, taking the time to promote another business will show that you’re humble, too. In addition to promoting other businesses that are doing outstanding things, you could also promote your own employees online, as well as people who stand out in your community! This is a great way to demonstrate that you’re involved, and helps you win goodwill with everyone you promote.

Best of all, the more you promote others, the more likely they’ll promote you, too! Believe us when we say that it gets far more attention when someone else says that you’re the best than it gets when you say it.

#9. Stand up to stand out.

As we discussed when we talked about telling a story, it’s important to tap into people’s emotions when building your brand. Whether you make them laugh or cry, bringing that emotion out in people is the easiest and fastest way for them to remember your name and your brand. And what’s the best way to connect with people on an emotional level? By taking a stand for things they care about.

Standing up for something is a powerful way to make your brand stand out. That’s not to suggest that you need to stand up for anything controversial or draw lines in the sand. There are plenty of things that you could stand up for that won’t lead to the Twitter mob tearing down your doors. For instance, you could simply stand up for your community by making it a point to give back.

#10. Find a style, and stick with it.

When you’re establishing your brand, it’s vitally important that you’re always consistent with everything from the tone of your articles to the colors you utilize in your designs. Consistency is so important because repetition builds trust. People won’t trust your brand the first time they come into contact with it, and the more consistent you are, the more familiar with your brand they’ll be. And creating a style guide for your brand will help you to keep it consistent. Your style guide should include colors, graphics, fonts, imagery and more, and it will help you establish boundaries for your brand.

Until you find your voice and nail down exactly what you want your brand to be, developing that consistency can be tough, and it’s OK to experience some. But as soon as you establish your goals and figure out what you want your brand to say, stick with it and be consistent.

You don’t have to make your brand stand out on your own!

There’s a lot that goes into building and maintaining an online brand, especially one that stands out and gets noticed. And if you’re like many business owners, you probably don’t have a lot of free time at your disposal to work on your online brand, nor do you have the resources to hire a full-time employee to do it for you. However, you don’t have to do it alone. There are plenty of experts out there, and best of all, Marketing 360® is here to help.

Learn more about reputation management from Marketing 360 online today, as well as the many other services that can help you get noticed, get more traffic and increase your bottom line — all without having to sacrifice more of your time or hire a full-time employee to manage your reputation for you.

How to Make Your Brand Stand Out Online

Posted on by Robyn Rivera

This year’s Top Rated Local® awards have recognized thousands of outstanding businesses. From plumbers and restoration companies to beauty salons and restaurants, all of those businesses have one essential thing in common — they have a brand that stands out online.

These days, setting your brand apart online is essential to success.

Regardless of whether you sell your products online, you’re in the service industry or you have a brick and mortar store, having an online presence that stands out is key. People search for everything from pest control companies to swimsuits online these days, and when they search for something you can provide for them, you want to be the company they choose to turn to. To do that, you have to have a brand that stands out online.

Five Things You Can do to Set Your Brand Apart Online

#1. Determine what kind of brand you want to build.

If you want to stand out, you need to be more than good; you need to be different. Getting a client to call you, when there are 25 other companies that do the same thing available, means that offering great customer service probably won’t be enough. That’s why you need to determine what sets you apart and what you want your brand to reflect. Do you want to be known as a company that goes above and beyond? Do you want to be known as a company that educates others? Do you want to be known as a company that’s always reliable?

Once you figure out what your goals are for your brand, it will help you nail down the right plan for achieving them.

#2. Figure out where your brand stands.

Before you can mold your brand’s reputation, you need to determine where it stands online. One of the best ways to do this is by reading your online reviews. People read reviews and trust them almost as much as they trust the word of a friend or family member, and they’re one of your best avenues for determining what your customers are saying about you. Another great way to figure out what people are saying about your brand is by setting up Google Alerts.

If your brand isn’t where you want it to be, it’s not the end of the world. There are lots of things you can do to recover from negative reviews and a bad online reputation. It all starts with reputation management.

#3. Create content consistently.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a key part of managing your brand and making it stand out online. After all, if your website doesn’t rank on page one, it really doesn’t matter what kind of reputation your brand has, because no one will see it! The key to being an SEO ninja and to ranking among the top 10 search results is to create content constantly. It’s been said time and time again, but when it comes to SEO, content is still king.

So what kind of content should you be putting out there? What could you possibly have to say every single day? Write about what you know! If you’re a plumber, no one will be looking on your website for tips on how to make the perfect hamburger. So instead, show off your expertise a little; show off the awesome work that you do; showcase your clients’ best success stories.

Pro Tip – In addition to adding content to your website on a consistent basis, you should also share that content on your social media profiles. And by content, we don’t just mean writing blogs. Images and videos are incredibly powerful.

#4. Ask for reviews!

There’s a little-known secret among many of our Top Rated Local award winners — it’s OK to ask for reviews! There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking a customer if they would mind going online to leave you a review, and it’s one of the most powerful ways to ensure that you get lots of positive reviews.

Even though a lot of people rely on online reviews when they’re figuring out who to hire or which product to buy, many people don’t understand how valuable positive reviews are for small businesses. It’s also an unfortunate reality that, left to their own devices, people generally only write reviews when they’re upset. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, and outstanding customer service can go a long way towards earning those organic reviews as well. But it holds true that the best way to gain a large number one five-star reviews is to simply ask!

What if you’re uncomfortable with asking? You don’t have to say, “Would you mind giving me a five-star review on Google?” You can simply let them know which review sites they can find you on and that you value their feedback. This way, they won’t feel like you’re steering them to leave a positive review, just asking for feedback.

One other great way to ask for reviews without actually asking is to send a follow-up email after the service has been rendered or the product has been delivered. This is a great opportunity to thank them for their business, ensure that they are happy and remind them to share their experiences online. If you don’t want to be that straightforward, you could simply include a link to the third party review sites you’re on.

#5. Make managing social media a top priority.

Millennials, followed closely by Generation Z, are going to make up the largest share of the buying power sooner than later, and to reach them, it’s imperative that your business not only has profiles on the biggest social media platforms but that you are active on those platforms. It’s not enough to have a profile! Just as it’s essential for SEO that you add content to your website on a regular basis, posting on social media frequently is a must.

There are so many great things to share on social media, from pictures of your work and secrets of the trade to your clients’ success stories and upcoming company events. You can even share silly memes about Mondays! Posting on social media helps to humanize you to your customers, and gives them something to connect with.

One of the most important parts of maintaining your social media presence is to respond to any comments you get, positive or negative. Responding to positive comments shows how much you appreciate the fact that your customers have taken the time to share their experience with others, and responding to negative comments will give you a chance to correct a bad experience and show off your customer service chops.

In our next article, we’ll be going over five more things you can do to make your brand stand out online, so be sure to stay tuned.

Let us help you build the kind of online brand you want!

As you can see, building an online brand that stands out is a full-time job, and when you already have more work than you know what to do with, it’s easy to let your online brand sit on the backburner. Luckily, there are plenty of experts out there who can help!

Get your business listed on Top Rated Local for free today!