Social Media – Are You Listening?
According to Dave Kerpen, author of likable Social Media, “companies can no longer afford to ignore their customer’s specific needs or complaints when the conversation can so easily be made public. Instead they must listen, understand the issue, and respond appropriately” (Kerpen, 2015, pg.14).
Did you hear me?
Brands have an amazing opportunity to connect and engage with their customers. Social media offers a window into not only their customers, but also their competitors customers. The analytics that you can glean by listening helps you “understand how your customers use your products (or don’t use them) can help you make critical changes in your offerings and in your communications with your customers” (Kerpen, 2015).
It’s important to have an authentic approach and believe in building your customer relationships. With that you have to be prepared for the good and the bad comments and have a plan on how to address them before they become a viral social media nightmare for the brand. If you truly value relationships, honest feedback and comments should be welcomed and responded to which in turn helps build trust and loyalty.
However, we all know that not all brands are prompt in their social media responses and we’ve seen some of the fiascos that followed. One example was a customer services complaint that British Airways failed to respond to in a timely manner. Sarah Burke at getspokal.com captured in her article http://www.getspokal.com/examples-of-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-of-customer-service-on-social-media/ the following Tweet and wrote “Hassan Syed paid to promote a Tweet complaining about British airways’ customer service after they lost his father’s suitcase”
(Burke, 2016)
“The tweet was seen by 76,000 users. To make things worse, BA failed to respond to the promoted tweet for eight hours” (Burke, 2016) British Airways responded that their Twitter feed operated between 0900-1700 GMT. (Burke, 2016) The lesson: A global company needs to be monitoring these feeds and be prepared to respond instead of allowing the tweet to go viral. This goes for small and large businesses as well and there are many tools out there to help you manage and monitor your social media sites.When faced with negative comments Carole Billingsley @YouSeekSocial listed out the top 5 ways not to respond:
1. “Ignore them: The ‘Head in the Sand’
2. Delete them: The ‘If No One Sees It, It Didn’t Happen’ approach.
3. Respond in kind: The ‘I’ll show you!’ approach.
4. Placate with a hollow apology: The ‘Gosh, Sorry You Feel That Way. We’ll Try To Do Better.’ Approach” (Billingsley, 2012)
None of these approaches will have a positive outcome. Instead she notes that it is best “to Offer an apology AND a solution: The ‘We Hear You and Value Our Customers. We Will Make This Right Immediately!’ approach. This is your opportunity to turn a disgruntled customer into your brand’s evangelist!” (Billingsley, 2012)
You can read article at http://www.seeksocialmedia.com/respond-negative-social-media-comments/
Monica
References
Billingsley, C. (2012). 5 Ways Brands Respond to Negative Social Media Comments (Hint: Only One is Effective). Retrieved from www.seeksocialmedia.com/respond-negative-social-media-comments/
Burke, S. (2016, June 14). Examples Of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Of Customer Service On Social Media! Retrieved from http://www.getspokal.com/examples-of-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-of-customer-service-on-social-media/
Kerpen, D. (2015) Likeable social media (2nd ed.). M
Hi Monica,
ReplyDeleteThank you for response to my blog post "Social Media Comments:
How to Respond to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." You touched upon the topic of companies not being prepared to deal with commenting on follower's negative comments, which is a topic I briefly mentioned. I will go into more detail now:
One quote that stuck with me from Kerpen's book, "Likable Social Media" was, "If you're not ready to respond to negative comments, then...you're not ready for Facebook yet" (Kerpen 2015). However, in an age where social media is an important form of marketing and PR, brand's will fall behind and get lost if they don't tackle this tactic.
"Plan for the Unplanned," (Kerpen, 2015). All brands will come across mistakes and negativity and it is important that they have a plan on how to quickly deal with the situation before it gets out of hand and damages the brand image and reputation. PR teams should make it a priority to create a communication crisis plan in which the department is able to following guidelines to identify an issue and propose an appropriate solution. Below is a set of steps provided by Cision, a PR and Social Software Company, that will help get the department started:
"1. Identify influencers
2. Identify stakeholders
3. Always be monitoring - This can be done through applications such as Google Alert, Hashtag trackers & Social Media
4. Assess and identify potential risks
5. Create messaging platforms
6. Build social guidelines
7. Integrate your overall Corporate Crisis Plan
8. Test, Execute, Review"
Do you think every company should have a crisis plan? It is a necessary procedure for all companies to have, or does it depend on the size of the company and their following on social media?
References
Kerpen, D. (2015) Likeable social media (2nd ed.). M
Gaab, K. (2015, June 26). 8 Steps to Create the Ultimate Crisis Communication Plan. Retrieved February 01, 2017, from http://www.cision.com/us/2015/06/8-steps-for-creating-a-crisis-communication-plan/
Hi Monica,
ReplyDeleteI like how mentioned needing to be prepared for the good and bad comments. Adweek mentions that “when dealing with when dealing with negative comments, 42 percent of your consumers expect you to reply within 60 minutes, and more than two third of your consumers expect a reply on the same day” (2014). Any type of response is absolutely necessary and in being prepared, a company has the opportunity to learn how to spin negative comments in a positive way, all in just knowing what and how to respond.
Your example from British Airways was spot on. It’s bad enough that a customer was so dissatisfied that they needed to promote a tweet about it, but that the company waited so long to respond! Another example given by Adweek of “what not to do” is responding to a customer and directing them to another digital platform to file their complaint (2014). A customer shouldn’t need to complain twice. It’s important to address the issue at first notice and take care of it right away so other customers who can see this conversation know you are able to respond to them quickly if they are ever in that scenario.
How to deal with negative Facebook comments on your brand’s page. (2014, September 29). Retrieved February 2, 2017, from http://www.adweek.com/digital/how-to-deal-with-negative-facebook-comments/
(Not sure why my response from yesterday isn't showing up in your comments. Luckily Blogger sends all posts to and from my account to gmail)
ReplyDelete____________
Hi Monica,
Thank you for response to my blog post "Social Media Comments:
How to Respond to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." You touched upon the topic of companies not being prepared to deal with commenting on follower's negative comments, which is a topic I briefly mentioned. I will go into more detail now:
One quote that stuck with me from Kerpen's book, "Likable Social Media" was, "If you're not ready to respond to negative comments, then...you're not ready for Facebook yet" (Kerpen 2015). However, in an age where social media is an important form of marketing and PR, brand's will fall behind and get lost if they don't tackle this tactic.
"Plan for the Unplanned," (Kerpen, 2015). All brands will come across mistakes and negativity and it is important that they have a plan on how to quickly deal with the situation before it gets out of hand and damages the brand image and reputation. PR teams should make it a priority to create a communication crisis plan in which the department is able to following guidelines to identify an issue and propose an appropriate solution. Below is a set of steps provided by Cision, a PR and Social Software Company, that will help get the department started:
"1. Identify influencers
2. Identify stakeholders
3. Always be monitoring - This can be done through applications such as Google Alert, Hashtag trackers & Social Media
4. Assess and identify potential risks
5. Create messaging platforms
6. Build social guidelines
7. Integrate your overall Corporate Crisis Plan
8. Test, Execute, Review"
(Gaab, 2015).
Do you think every company should have a crisis plan? It is a necessary procedure for all companies to have, or does it depend on the size of the company and their following on social media?
References
Kerpen, D. (2015) Likeable social media (2nd ed.). M
Gaab, K. (2015, June 26). 8 Steps to Create the Ultimate Crisis Communication Plan. Retrieved February 01, 2017, from http://www.cision.com/us/2015/06/8-steps-for-creating-a-crisis-communication-plan/
Hi Monica,
ReplyDeleteWhen drafting my blog post and looking for examples of social media marketing gone wrong, I stumbled across the GetSpokal article by Sarah Burke as well!
In addition to the “bad” and “ugly” examples of social media marketing, the article’s examples of brand who got social media “right” seemed to Carle Billgsley’s tips of how not to respond to customers, to heart.
I think one of the strongest examples from this article is Xbox. The screenshot example of their tweets showed they were marketing their product, engaging with consumers and solving customer issues all in an hour’s time (Burke, 2016).
The approach of combing these types of messages ensures your company can still use social platforms for meeting its business needs and ultimately customer’s needs.
And when customers do complain or post something negative (because even if your business is strong, people will complain), its best to keep that authentic approach in mind. Brandon Carter, a B2C content specialist, wrote an article, “A Guide to Turning Online Complainers Into Loyal Customers,” which shares how important it is to “acknowledge the customer’s issue and feelings. It doesn’t mean you have to admit your brand did something wrong, but reflect the customer’s feelings back to them (Carter, 2016).
Using social media to authentically connect with customers , which Kerpen discusses in our reading from this week, requires brands to maintain a balancing act of these best practices (Kerpen, 2015).
References
Burke, S. (2016, June 14). Examples Of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Of Customer Service On Social Media! Retrieved from http://www.getspokal.com/examples-of-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-of-customer-service-on-social-media/
Carter, B. (2016, March 22). A Guide to Turning Online Complainers Into Loyal Customers. Retrieved February 03, 2017, from http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/guide-turning-online-complainers-loyal-customers-01491494#ZaAUEQQzpwxZZATS.97
Kerpen, D. (2015) Likeable social media (2nd ed.).
Hi Monica,
ReplyDeleteThank you for response to my blog post "Social Media Comments:
How to Respond to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." You touched upon the topic of companies not being prepared to deal with commenting on follower's negative comments, which is a topic I briefly mentioned. I will go into more detail now:
One quote that stuck with me from Kerpen's book, "Likable Social Media" was, "If you're not ready to respond to negative comments, then...you're not ready for Facebook yet" (Kerpen 2015). However, in an age where social media is an important form of marketing and PR, brand's will fall behind and get lost if they don't tackle this tactic.
"Plan for the Unplanned," (Kerpen, 2015). All brands will come across mistakes and negativity and it is important that they have a plan on how to quickly deal with the situation before it gets out of hand and damages the brand image and reputation. PR teams should make it a priority to create a communication crisis plan in which the department is able to following guidelines to identify an issue and propose an appropriate solution. Below is a set of steps provided by Cision, a PR and Social Software Company, that will help get the department started:
"1. Identify influencers
2. Identify stakeholders
3. Always be monitoring - This can be done through applications such as Google Alert, Hashtag trackers & Social Media
4. Assess and identify potential risks
5. Create messaging platforms
6. Build social guidelines
7. Integrate your overall Corporate Crisis Plan
8. Test, Execute, Review"
Do you think every company should have a crisis plan? It is a necessary procedure for all companies to have, or does it depend on the size of the company and their following on social media?
References
Kerpen, D. (2015) Likeable social media (2nd ed.). M
Gaab, K. (2015, June 26). 8 Steps to Create the Ultimate Crisis Communication Plan. Retrieved February 01, 2017, from http://www.cision.com/us/2015/06/8-steps-for-creating-a-crisis-communication-plan/
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the Adweek article. It was a good example of how social media responses to negative comments can snowball when not responded to immediately. As they noted “Every time there’s an angry customer, you’re not just dealing with him or her. You’re dealing with the thousands of other people connected to your social platform who are watching you on dealing with this angry customer” (Adweek, 2014).
Dave Kerpen in Likeable Social Media says that in addition to the apology the company should get creative and offer something additional that will “surprise and delight” (Kerpen, 2015) the customer. The goodwill is sure to garner positive word of mouth comments, online and offline. (Kerpen, 2015)
Reference
Adweek. (2014, September 29). How to deal with negative Facebook comments on your brand’s page – Adweek. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/digital/how-to-deal-with-negative-facebook-comments/
Kerpen, D. (2015) Likeable social media (2nd ed.). Mcgraw Hill