Use online customer service to create a positve online footprint
Photo: throgers
Swedish SEO guru Christian Rudolf wrote an extensive and insightful piece on how brands get jacked online when negative discussions reach a high ranking in a search for the brand name. I also had the honor to add my comment to the story.
SEO is a founding part of all digital communication, something that is probably still unknown for many within communications. With people learning more about digital communication and discovering new services like blogging, Twitter, YouTube, Posterous etc, and also getting accustomed to liking or disliking brands, brand jacking will become a bigger challenge to organizations.
Digital communication has largely been about campaign sites and hoping for a viral effect, but often there is no strategy for creating positive digital footprints that prevent brand jacking. Creating and maintaining a digital presence is increasingly important and I am convinced that a function like customer service on the internet, where each client dialogue means a digital footprint, will be a natural part of a communication strategy.
Digital footprints is an important part of the strategy when we work with digital presence and online customer service for clients, answering tweets and blog or forum posts. When a forum user expresses a problem it is not only important to answer that person, but also all the users that will follow looking for information about the same product.
Making sure all questions have an answer and also letting users know that the company cares and listens to them is an important message to send both for existing customers as well as potential customers looking for a rational argument when choosing between manufacturers. And in the long run posting the answers online will save time and money for the traditional customer service.
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