My friend, Kevin Cullis, directed me to an article that talks about businesses that use social media but often don’t respond to comments posted online, especially complaints. It’s a great article and we had quite a discussion online about it.
I’m sure that some businesses think that they could create legal problems if they respond to negative posts…and sometimes, this is true. However, they could arrange to contact the person offline to solve the problem. There are also times when it simply isn’t appropriate to have the discussion in a public forum.
They also think that if they talk about it, it could grow into an even bigger situation, and again, this is sometimes true. However, in the world of social media, these things can and often do take on a life of their own. One person tweets or posts about a problem, others respond, retweet and share and one small problems quickly grows into a gigantic one. It’s better for a business to try to get ahead of the situation rather than try to catch up.
Not responding is also a missed opportunity to publicly respond to try to fix the problem.
I saw post on Facebook that linked to a YouTube video. In the video, an Army officer posted overseas was talking about having problems with his printer, but the company he bought it from refused to replace it. The comments varied, but for the most part they said “How horrible! I’ll never buy anything from xx company again and I’ll be sure to tell all of my friends about this.” The video went viral and I lost track of the number of times I saw it reposted, all with basically the same reaction.
I happen to know someone who works for the company so I contacted them. Turns out the video was nearly 10 years old and the company had responded immediately at that time, replacing the printer and more importantly, changing their policies on how they deal with their customers who serve in the military. But, as we all know, once something is on the Internet, it’s always there and somehow, this video had popped up again.
The company could have ignored the situation, since it was “old news,” but they didn’t. It gave them an excellent opportunity to respond, telling people that when the incident happened 10 years ago, they took action and solved the problem. It also gave them the ability to inform people about all of their efforts to work with those in the military. They definitely turned a negative into a positive.
It’s easy to bury our heads in the sand and ignore negative comments. But ignoring them won’t make them go away. Businesses need to remember that social media is just that: social. Effectively using social media means that both sides need to be social and have two-way communications.
What companies and organizations do you follow that are great examples of interacting with their followers? Post them in the comments section below! I’d also love to get your thoughts on business practices for optimizing social media.
Hi Deb,
I guess you could say that videos today are similar to rumors, they don’t stop once they are let go into the wind of talk, or today’s social media.
So the real question becomes: While the printer company handled the incident appropriately and going forward, how does one slow down the viralness of something like that?
Great article and advice.
Kevin
It’s always hard when something goes viral – especially because even if the company responds (every time) not all will see it. One thing would be to contact the person who originally posted the video to have them delete it. Of course, people could have saved it, but that would help. The original person could also record a follow-up video. The key is for companies to continually monitor the Internet for mentions of their name and respond as quickly and appropriately as possible. It won’t stop it, but it may slow things down.
Good thoughts here, Deb, as always.
It’s a fine line in the evolving world of online PR — to respond publicly or take comments off line. I have encountered more and more corporate clients disabling blogs, for instance, because they fear the rogue person who decides to post negative comments — whether they relate to that company or not.
My view is that if you open the door, be prepared to walk through it yourself. If you make bold statements, be open to input from others. That’s how conversation works.
Interesting fine lines that I’m sure keep the PR and legal profession up at night. 🙂
Thanks, and you’re right…it’s getting more and more complicated. As a PR person, we were taught that “we” should control the messaging about our companies. Now, it seems that everyone except us is in control! It is scary for corporations and nonprofits to know that others now have the ability to say things about them and in a very public way. But, as you said, it’s much better to be part of the conversation, than to let it go on without you.