The worst public relations disasters used to take weeks to unfold. Someone would need to send a letter to the editor of a widely-read newspaper, or a jilted customer might be interviewed on the 9 o’clock news after getting a network interested in the story.
But the 24-hour news cycle has evolved to a 24-second Twitter feed where negative feedback can be spread across the globe within minutes of an incident. Backlash campaigns are organized and launched against offending organizations within hours of breaking news with social network sites serving as the primary arena.
Even those who have a lot of experience in public relations are even finding themselves out to sea; the field may not be new, the players and the equipment are, so you’ve got to read the new rulebook.
If you’re flummoxed by Facebook, terrified by Twitter, and lost with LinkedIn, these social media disaster response tips will save you a lot of time, money, and gray hair.
Snafu: Your family and friends are commenting on your work-related networks and posts with the following:
- embarrassing personal encouragement (“We’re so proud you made it, schmoopy-pants!”)
- not-quite-vague-enough references to your college years (“You’d know all about ‘stripping down’ business plans, eh, Scooter?”)
- unrelated social exchanges (“Did you see the McKinnon’s kid? Looks like a raisin!”)
Solution: Gently remind your family and friends that their comments are visible to potential clients and current/future employers and that the page is a professional resource. If the response is anything short of an immediate apology and instant deletion of the offending comments/images/video, unfriend them, and create a separate social network profile for personal relationships. You’re the one being embarrassed, so take the reins on your online presence. While it’s important to be friendly and approachable on professional social media sites, family and friends who can’t behave need to stay out.
While you may want to pump up your number of fans/friends/followers by recruiting people in your personal life to support you on social networking sites, it’s far more important to have fewer genuine supporters than a higher number on your counter. Which leads us to the next snafu…
Snafu: Nobody Likes you. On Facebook, that is. And nobody is following you on Twitter. Your employees are there with a handful of their friends, but that’s about it.
Solution: Resist the temptation to “buy friends” through scammers who promise to boost numbers. While it’s intuitive thinking that customers may feel more comfortable buying from an established brand with a (seeming) high number of followers, fan engagement and sales are true markers of social media return on investment (ROI). When your site is discovered through an industry-relevant blog post, professional networking, or a press release featuring your latest promotion, the followers you attract are far more likely to become customers; that has an impact on your bottom line whereas a number may be a tiny factor towards someone’s future buying decision.
Focus your resources toward becoming an authority in your industry. Attend professional conferences, provide content on your website relevant to your ideal customer, participate on forums, and contribute to blog post discussions in the comments. Become known “around town” as an informed resource and provide links to your social media presence in your signature lines. Inform your existing customers that you have social media profiles and toss in incentives for becoming a fan. If you link-build, they will come.
But what do you do once you have them?
Snafu: You’ve got some loyal customers who follow you on social media platforms, but they’re not posting or sending you messages. They also don’t seem to be buying much these days either.
Solution: Quick review: size doesn’t matter; it’s how you use it. Your fan base, that is. We established earlier that becoming a resource and authority in your field attracts your ideal customers. But depending on your products and services, customers may only need to place orders with you once a year or even less. What shows up in a Facebook user’s news feed is determined by how frequently they interact with brand pages, so it’s critical that you stay on their radar between purchases.
One way to engage fans is to include fun activities such as caption contests and fill-in-the-blank challenges (If I had brand new personalized water bottles, I would use them to…). Incentives such as discounts on future orders are motivating, also; you can even work out a gift card exchange with a related (but not directly competing) company for simultaneous promotions.
Promoting helpful blog posts and posting industry-relevant news also improve your company’s status as a resource in the field, which maintains client interest between orders.
Last (and pretty much least), you could always buy a shortcut by paying for promoted posts. Like the sponsored posts in the right hand column of the Facebook newsfeed, the promoted posts are marked as sponsored. Promoted Posts track metrics such as click-through rates for you, and they can be seen by the friends of your friends who comment and share the post, expanding your reach.
Snafu: A disgruntled ex-coworker, extremely dissatisfied customer, or random teenager who thinks he’s being funny has decided to cover your wall with negative press about your company.
Solution: First, here’s what you don’t do – ignore it or delete it. The purpose of a social media site is to provide a platform for you to communicate with your customers, and in a word of cached webpages and screenshots, nothing is truly deleted. What this censorship does is deplete brand trust and cast suspicion on your operations, even if you’re completely in the right.
The Susan G. Komen foundation was recently entrenched in a social media snafu after erasing messages on the Facebook page from users who were angry that the charity stopped providing funds to Planned Parenthood. Instead of “nipping it in the bud,” as was no doubt the intention of erasing the offending comments, the actions incited an avalanche of comments that overwhelmed the Facebook page and caught the media’s attention.
Rachel Strella from Social Media Today provides a perfect list of steps to respond to negative feedback on social media sites based on the claim’s credibility:
If you’ve decided the feedback has truth to it, do the following:
- Acknowledge the feedback.
- Apologize – genuinely.
- Take the conversation offline.
- Offer a solution.
If you’ve decided the feedback is only partially true or it’s slightly misguided, do the following:
- Acknowledge the error on your part and apologize.
- Gently correct any misinformation (remember, be honest with yourself at this step).
- Take the conversation offline.
- Offer a solution.
If you’ve decided the feedback couldn’t be farther from the truth, do the following:
- Acknowledge the comment and write a general apology for any perceived dissatisfaction.
- Take the conversation offline.
- Get more details.
The core pieces of these steps are acknowledge, apologize, and move it offline. You don’t need to slug it out in front of potential clients, but you do need to make sure they know you are addressing the information in a different arena.
Summary:
- Keep professional and personal social network profiles separate.
- Don’t buy friends; make friends through establishing yourself as an authority in your field and a resource to your ideal customer.
- Keep your customers engaged between purchases through fun activities and coupons for future transactions.
- Acknowledge, apologize for, and move discussions about negative customer experiences away from the social media sites and into a private setting.
Have you run into any public relations nightmares on your social media platforms? How did you deal with it? Share your own tips in the comment section below!
Until next time, keep expanding your brand!