Online Real Estate Technology

I’ve been working on a social media strategy paper for a top real estate franchise group and it’s kept me fairly busy during the last couple of weeks and that’s the reason I haven’t been very active on my blog for that period. As part of that strategy, I’ve been looking at the impact of social media on brand building and especially the impact blogs have on the purchasing decisions of consumers.

Blogs, play a major role in influencing the purchasing decision amongst women in particular, and in a recent survey in the US, 85% of regular female blog readers said they were influenced to make a purchase as a result of a review or comment posted on a blog.  So with that in mind, if you’re the company that gets it right, you have a good chance of getting the sale, but what happens if you are on the receiving end of a negative review or comment. How do you protect your brand and how should you respond?

Your customers can now read, listen, discuss and research their purchasing decisions and you need to work harder at customer service than ever before, if you are finding negative or damaging reviews about you,your brand or service then use this as a wake up call. The world of social networks, business review sites and blogs has provided the disgruntled consumer with a voice.

Every employee in your company is now responsible for your brands reputation, and when you as a company, start to live up to your reputation, it becomes a lot easier to manage your brand effectively on line.

If you do find a negative review on any of the sites, resist the temptation to respond defensively and do  not allow any of your staff to respond, you could put the Streisand effect in motion. 

What can be used to deliver a negative can also be used to promote a positive, so use it wisely.  Remember it’s very hard to remove a negative comment or search engine result, but you can promote a positive, just like the company in this video has done. 

If you’d like any additional information on how to manage your brand effectively on line, please ask me, I’d be happy to help advise you and get you headed on the right track.