BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

The top six social media tips to know before you leave the office.

More often than not, brands in the online space appear to be trying to speak to their consumers without listening. With a virtual tsunami of information bombarding consumers every day, the one-way, top down, paid marketing communications programs of the past are no longer affective in convincing today’s savvy online audience. Successful companies are engaging their key audiences in sustained dialogue, asking key questions and building ties that bind with legions of loyal consumers – every brand’s most valuable marketing asset. With a commitment to six key steps, your brand can begin to achieve a sustained two-way conversation with the online public, building credibility and furthering brand loyalty.

1. Track Conversations: Finding out who’s talking about your company, your brand, or your industry, as well as where the majority of the conversation is occurring (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.), allows you to engage your audiences in the places where the conversation is already happening. There are both free and paid tools available to help you monitor what people are saying about your organization or company in real time. This not only serves as a crisis early warning system, but it also allows you to identify conversation threads and trends and begin to develop messaging attuned to both the audiences and the mediums (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) in which they are occurring. Step one for any brand looking to engage: know the landscape, set up your Google News and Google Blog Alerts now (they are free!), and begin to map your audience.

2. Be Helpful: Now that you are tracking conversations related to your brand, monitor for opportunities to be helpful. Your fans, friends, and followers will appreciate your offer of assistance.  This simple gesture shows you are listening to what your audiences are saying. If consumers know you are available for help, they will be more apt to seek an answer than just complain online. The hotel chain Marriot has mastered this practice and is known to respond, often in minutes, to the questions and concerns of guests left on social media platforms. Like Marriot, you can offer the same assistance by answering questions or following up with disgruntled customers about how their experience could have been improved.  

3. Ask Questions: Sometimes you need to break the ice, and engaging the online marketplace with questions is a surefire way to warm up the crowd. When you seek responses from your online communities, consumers know you want more than to talk at them; you want to talk with them and hear what they have to say. The action demonstrates goodwill, but it also offers an opportunity to gauge feedback. Curious how a new product was received? Asking your online communities provides instant intelligence and lets you guide the conversation. Polls are an easy way to gather this feedback on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Develop a question, input a few answers, and use one of the tools available for each site to distribute your poll.

4. Embrace Criticism: Developing open communication channels also means opening the door to criticism. Importantly it means being willing to “Give Up A Little C” or control. Remember, consumer complaints don’t have to be a bad thing – they are but the beginning of the conversation if you choose to engage. Think of negative comments as an open microphone to begin telling your story to the masses in the online community. They provide an opportunity for improved customer service, free search engine optimization, and a chance to demonstrate to all members of the community how seriously you attend to concerns. In many ways, handling a concern through social media is better than over the phone or email – you get credit for your work and you begin to build critical brand loyalty.

5. Be a Virtual Hand Shaker: Just like at a party or event, get out there and mingle with the crowd. Introduce yourself to people on Twitter with similar interests and start listening to what they are talking about. Find opportunities to respond to their tweets with information about your product or service. Another option is to share Web resources, like a blog post or news article that you found interesting and think they would like. Twitter’s new list feature also makes it easy to capture and categorize people you want to develop a relationship with. On Facebook, invite individuals to be your friends or Fans of your page on Facebook with a personal message. Introduce yourself and let them know why you want to be friends. Pay attention to their newsfeed updates and look for opportunities to comment or offer a “thumbs up.”

6. Leverage Employees: With guidance and support your employees have the potential to be your strongest apostles in the online space. They already participate in and use a variety of networks each day where your consumers are talking. Most companies mistakenly believe keeping their employees out of the conversation helps control the message. But, harnessing your employees as brand ambassadors to monitor and contribute to the conversation can be your strongest tool to building relationships with your customers. Consider developing a “how to engage” company policy versus the traditional “what not to do policy.” Encourage your team members to talk about the good aspects of their work, the people they are helping or the new products they are helping to bring to market. As with any program, a strong dose of caution should accompany the “how to engage” policy to set clear ground rules for what is open for discussion and, importantly, to help prepare your future ambassadors for the pitfalls that can accompany any online engagement.

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Dallas Lawrence is Chair of Levick Strategic Communications’ Global Social and Digital Media Practice, the nation’s top crisis communications firm. He blogs on emerging digital media trends and best practices for social media engagement on BulletProofblog.com Connect with him on Twitter @dallaslawrence.