Steps for Dealing With Social Media Detractors

It's the thing a lot of social media naysayers fear most: "What do we do when someone says something negative about us?" It's what keeps most businesspeople off social media in the first place, social media marketing campaigns failing to realize that people are already saying negative things about them right now. Believing people aren't talking about you when you're not on social media is like believing people aren't gossiping about you when you're not around.And if they can get past their initial hesitation, what usually hangs them up is what they should do if it ever happens. Do they put out a press release? Do they delete the comment? Do they send a cease-and-desist letter to the complainer?You don't need a policy, you need a commitment. Whether it's a complaint about the product quality, the pricing, or a corporate practice, you need to commit to responding to any and all complaints that people have. It doesn't have to be a full-blown response, complete with strategy meetings and position statements. It just needs to be one response from one person in the company and a promise either to make things right or to investigate and make sure it doesn't happen again.Because dealing with detractors, even those who have every right to be talking negatively about your company, is intimidating and stressful, you can handle them with grace, humor and honesty. Here are six steps for how your company should handle incidents when people talk bad about your organization online.Being a social media maniac isn’t the right persona either. You know who we’re talking about. These people can answer emails on their laptops with one hand while texting friends or colleagues on their iPhones with the other. social media marketing service They can’t be looked in the eye when talking because their heads are always looking down at some screen. This behavior may be seen as good technology gone bad.The key is to strike a balance somewhere in the middle. Avoid becoming a social media ignorer or a social media maniac. Develop a social networking schedule that does not run your life but does keep you accountable.

Acknowledge their right to complain

Free speech may not be a founding principle of every country, but it certainly presides in communications online. If a customer has a run-in with your brand at any point and isn't satisfied, he or she can, and often should, social media marketing conference tell someone with the company, or even just a friend.The goal should be consistency. Choose a schedule and stay the course for at least six months. As you find success, you can slowly grow your social networking persona.The sample social networking agenda below can be used as a springboard for designing one that suits your schedule and the community channels you’ve joined.Check LinkedIn. Reply to emails and comments when appropriate.Scan Twitter followers for relevant conversations to join.Check your business's Facebook Page for questions and respond when necessary.Scan Google Alerts for brand and company mentions. Respond as appropriate.Build Twitter Lists to better organize ongoing discussions and special interest groups. Set up saved searches in Hootsuite to find out if people are talking about you or your company.Scan LinkedIn questions from network connections and respond when appropriate.Catch up on LinkedIn discussions. Add to discussion when appropriate.Send LinkedIn invitations to connect with clients when beginning a new assignment.Ask for LinkedIn recommendation after successfully completing a project or engagement.Add new content to Facebook like videos or photos.Think of ways to repurpose this content and energy to reach a larger audience with the social networking gospel.Keep an eye open for new social networking venues, tools, and functionality that will make the social networking experience more enjoyable and easier to traverse. effective social media marketing Identify new social networking influencers and build relationships where appropriate.While his first book, Engage, covered how brands and businesses can use social media to build communities and support in the online ecosytem, his latest The End of Business As Usual covers the consumer revolution and what industries need to do to "rewire" their business models.

Apologize for their situation or your mistake, if warranted

The two most powerful words in diffusing a tense situation are, "I'm sorry." But you don't have to claim responsibility for the situation by doing so, especially if you don't have all the information to make that determination. social media as a marketing tool Apologize for the detractors' trouble, the situation, or their experience and ask for more information on how you can help them or make the situation better.Mondays: Schedule tweets through HootSuite to go out three times per day at regular intervals.Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays: Join one hot trend conversation on Twitter, if appropriate, and add new content to Facebook (new items you are selling, photos, discounts and other promotions).Tuesdays and Thursdays: Respond to blog comments.Fridays: Check traffic at your blog or website.Obviously, your daily social networking to-do list will be much different, given your available time and commitments. Just be sure to make the schedule livable. If it’s not working, change it. Keep making modifications until it works for you.Digital disruption seems to be hitting every business right now, but it's also causing many to thrive.Customers and prospects are busy, connected and interacting with everybody but you today. While creating a presence is a start, it is how you engage with people that attracts them to you. This requires an engagement program -- that is, a plan for using social media to meet goals -- that extends beyond the typical marketing of "follow us on Twitter" or "Like us on Facebook.Many entrepreneurs are excited about technology and they overextend themselves because they want to be part of the latest trend. The key is to only be where your customers, social media marketing pricing prospects and those who influence them engage.The two magical ingredients to a successful social media effort are: authenticity and transparency. The only problem is that they don't really equate to a strategy. Rather, these two traits contribute more to a "digital way" or "guiding light" than they do as a form of effective engagement.