Come to BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media on February 16 in San Diego to hear Starbucks, Clorox, Intuit, Avery Dennison, USAA, Community Medical Centers, State Farm Insurance, and the U.S. Navy share case studies in corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal — in one afternoon, for just $250.
You’ll get practical, how-to advice on creating great content, getting management buy-in, educating employees, keeping lawyers and regulators happy, simple and ethical disclosure, and engaging fans. You’ll ask questions, discover new ideas, and get answers from people who have been there, done that — all in four hours.
In her BlogWell Atlanta case study presentation, “Protecting Your Brand Through Social Media,” UPS’ Manger of Corporate Public Relations, Debbie Curtis-Magley explained how her team used social media tools to defend their brand online and share their side of an issue.
Debbie’s presentation covers her top 5 tips for social media defense, how her team determined which conversations to participate in and which ones to ignore, and how she kept executives informed on the issue.
Sooner or later, you’ll run into someone who hates your guts
They attack, you offer to fix it, and the person keeps ripping you apart. Sometimes you’ll find a competitor who is using fake identities to attack you. And some people are just angry, mean, dishonest, or completely nuts.
That’s OK. The important thing is that you’re not.
Remember, people are smart. When future readers see those unfair posts that are making you upset, they’ll understand. They’ll see the same ridiculousness that you do.
How to handle them
Post a single, rational response — and move on. This is really, really, really hard. But it’s the right thing to do. Learn to have a thick skin and a sense of humor.
Ask for blatantly inappropriate or inaccurate stuff to be removed. If the attack is posted on a third-party website, the site owners might help you. It’s in their interest to have clean, fair reviews and discussions.
Remember that blogs are upside down. Blogs are displayed in reverse chronological order. How you end the story is what people see first on the permanent record, and newer posts show up first in search results.
When it comes to negative word of mouth, you should almost always respond. Some exceptions include:
A really small or obscure blog or message board where giving a response would actually give attention or credibility to something that no one saw in the first place
An attack that is so obviously outrageous, rude, or nutso that everyone who reads it already knows that the writer has a personal problem
A known attacker who is trying to provoke you to respond so he can attack more
The basic response strategy
Respond calmly and offer to help. Post a simple, reasonable response and try to fix the problem. Offer a way to contact you.
Do not get in a fight. You will always lose. It’s their website full of their loyal readers, and they’ll get the last word. Use good vibes and a good sense of humor and be a person who cares.
Be human. Don’t respond with a corporate, canned response. It’s easy to yell and scream at an anonymous corporation, but when a real human representative politely shows up, everything changes.
Write for the record. In many ways, your response is not really for the original critics. You’re writing for every future reader, letting them know you saw a problem and tried to fix it.
Follow up. Remember that now that people are watching, you need to follow up and deliver on what was promised. A one-time visit is not enough.
Do something wonderful. Every so often, do something amazingly nice for your critics. Replace a product with a huge upgrade, send flowers, mail a handwritten letter, give a gift — whatever. You’ll make new friends and they’ll tell everyone how cool you are.
While you shouldn’t expect to be immune from negative word of mouth, there are some basic defenses you can establish to help protect yourself:
1. Build credibility before you need it
Let’s say you find a bunch of bloggers attacking your products. You and your PR team could show up to post a perfectly worded response. Doesn’t work. Why? Because you’ll look like a shamelessly self-serving PR team that’s only there to post a perfectly worded response.
When nobody knows you, you’re not part of the discussion. Instead, focus on being a regular participant, a known name, and a familiar face in the room if you want any hope of responding to the negative word of mouth successfully.
2. Bring it inside the tent
Where people complain is often more important than what they say. You are always better off if the criticism happens on your own website, blogs, and message boards, here’s why:
Your fans are there and can drown out a few critical posts.
It’s easier to respond on your site than to chase criticism across the web
Positive responses will be right next to original complaints, telling a complete story
If people can’t complain on your site, they’ll do it elsewhere anyway
3. Let your fans do it
If you’ve been successful in creating word of mouth, showing love for your fans, and making your customers happy, then your talkers will be eager to help. Ask them for help in a particular forum or on a particular topic. Not only will they respond, but there’s a good chance they got there first and already have. (Just be careful that your request for help doesn’t look like an organized attack on the critic.)
Remember: A defense from your fans is always more credible than one from your employees.
4. Never get caught by surprise
Conversations happen quickly online, and you need to respond the same day. When a bunch of people are talking about you in a lively discussion, there is no way for you to have a meaningful impact if you aren’t there at the beginning. If you show up a day later, the conversation is probably over and you missed your chance to influence it. If you find a complaint that is weeks old, the damage has been done and it’s probably too late to convert that critic into a happy customer.
This is GasPedal's blog about all things word of mouth marketing. We cover everything from the best word of mouth case studies to the latest research, focusing on the practical ideas you can use to get your fans talking about you.
The Social Media Business Council, formerly the Blog Council, is a brands-only community that helps large organizations build successful social media programs.
Come to BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media on February 16 in San Diego to hear Starbucks, Clorox, Intuit, Avery Dennison, USAA, Community Medical Centers, State Farm Insurance, and the U.S. Navy share case studies in corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal — in one afternoon, for just $250.
Clorox: Using gaming strategies to grow community
BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media