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Having an online presence for your business means that you’re prepared to provide a certain level of online service that your customers expect. For example, you’re expected to monitor every channel that your customers use and respond rapidly to their online posts. Failure to do so will leave your customers feeling ignored — or even offended — and can result in a damage to your Internet marketing campaign.

Here are a few things you should always do to avoid alienating your customers:

Respond to Emails

Not responding to emails from your customers is unforgivable, even if you receive hundreds of them on a daily basis. If you share an email address, you are inviting people to contact you that way, so you have to be ready to respond.

Responding promptly to each customer e-mail, even if you just send a “Thank you for the info. Hope you are doing well!” helps build relationships and avoid misunderstandings, and it only takes a little extra admin time. Whenever you or your staff are unavailable, use an automated email response that lets the senders know when they can expect you to respond personally.

Reply to Comments Left on Your Website

Whenever you’ve published an article on your website and a customer responds with a comment or question, it’s important to respond. After all, they have taken the time to read what you’ve published on your site so it’s only polite that you do the same.

Always Monitor Your Forum

If you have a forum specially set up for your customers, you need to monitor it and respond to comments, questions, and even complaints. Otherwise, you risk the wrath of ignored customers who will happily use your forum as a tool to channel their anger and nothing else.

Also, unmonitored forums can end up filled with spam, and a spam-filled forum certainly isn’t the most powerful tool for online marketing.

Respond to Mentions on Twitter

Many people use Twitter to complain about problems they’ve experienced with a product or service, so it’s a good idea to monitor for mentions and respond to complaints made through this micro-blogging site.

Even if you don’t actively use Twitter to engage with your customers, you should have searches set up for your brand. That way you can ask dissatisfied customers to give you their contact information and look into their complaints.