During my high school years, working at a local library, I remember the days I worked in the Reference Department were filled by requests for Consumer Reports Magazine. It was also one of the few magazines that we would have bound into leather volumes at the end of the year, ever preserving its contents in the musty basement of our library. So what was the big deal about that? It was the 1990′s, and not many people had the internet. That magazine was one of the few up-to-the-minute resources for people to get reviews on electronics, cars, appliances, and so much more.
Today, we have the World Wide Web to find out basically anything about, well, anything. Have you Googled your company or brand lately? Take a second and do that now. What did you find? Who is talking about you – and most importantly – what are they saying? Have you looked at Yelp! to see what people are saying about the restaurant you might work in? Or the clothing store you just had a bad experience in? Have you checked out your employer on Glass Door to see what former employees are saying about the company you just started working for last week? Have you even searched through Twitter to see what the latest buzz is? So, what did you find?
Today on Mashable, the JSN team was reading about what happens when your brand is being brought to a negative light through Social Media, and what do you do next? Part of having a solid social media marketing strategy is to also be aware that not everyone loves you as much as you think, and you (and your staff) need to be prepared to take action when someone complains about a bad experience or bad service. Or they just outright slam you and a bunch of others decide to hitch a ride on that bandwagon.
Social media disasters occur for a number of reasons, the first being that your company probably messed up. It may not have been intentional, but something, somewhere down the line, went wrong enough for someone to complain and it was enough for others to vocalize that complaint en masse. One mistake is all it takes for social media to turn against your brand.
No one is perfect and you can’t expect to please everyone all the time, so the best trick is to be prepared for how to handle things if your company finds itself under attack in the social realm.
Online reviews are some of the most powerful messages that potential customers see before deciding to act on a purchase or a visit to your business. Before I visit a new restaurant, Yelp is the first place I go to. I want to know what to try, what to wear, and what night of the week is the best night to go. I also take the negative reviews into perspective, looking at what they’re really saying about service or price or atmosphere. In several instances, I have been swayed from visiting a business due to poor reviews. When multiple reviewers make similar claims toward a business, it lends validity to the overall impression of that business.
If your company is using a PR or Advertising firm to help you portray your best image online, are they also helping you protect that image? At JSN, one of the first topics we chat with current and potential clients about is reputation management. Who is handling it, and how are they handling it? If you don’t have anyone helping you manage your online reputation – you must drop everything and find someone to do that right now (and may we suggest, call JSN!). Reputation management is one of the most critical aspects of putting together a solid social media plan – what happens if someone doesn’t like you, and they want to make sure nobody else likes you?
Reputation management isn’t just to quiet the negative or the bad, but to right the “wrongs”. Those that are taking this approach will be best in polishing tarnished images. To read the full article appearing in Mashable, visit this link: http://mashable.com/2010/08/30/social-media-attacks-brand/
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