Will the IPO kill Facebook?

Facebook goes public this Friday. That has put us on full irony alert. The company that has been pilloried by privacy wonks will be forced to shred its veil of secrecy.

That is the least of Facebook’s concerns as they move forward in the public eye. Wall Street is a harsh mistress. The demands of being a publicly held company are many and will inevitably change how Facebook operates.

I am not a financial expert (but I play one on the radio) but recent history tells us that the Facebook we know today will not be the Facebook of the future. Two examples spring to mind – Starbucks and the entire radio industry.

Starbucks – the company that single-handedly changed our coffee consumption habits –  built themselves upon a smart and meticulously crafted strategy. The were very rigid in planning their expansion – down to which side of a street to locate their stores on. Then, they went public. To satisfy Wall Street growth demands, Starbucks abandoned their strategy and started opening more stores. This was not a retail decision – it was one forced upon them by Wall Street analysts. Of course, the strategy failed and they had to close stores and get back to where they once belonged.

Remember radio? Those local stations that talked about local events and were tied into your local community? This was an industry that routinely had 50% profit margins! Well, the Telecom Act of 1996 changed all that. Stations were gobbled up en mass by large conglomerates. They went public. Despite huge profits they could not afford the payments on their notes. Worse, they could not satisfy Wall Street’s insatiable demand for dramatic growth. A succession of bankruptcies and dramatic cutbacks have left this industry a shell of its former self.

How will this affect Facebook? What kind of changes can we expect to see in the coming months and years?

At its core, the product won’t change much. Despite their stock market woes, Starbucks still made great coffee. The actual user experience did not change. Expect the same for Facebook. They will continue to evolve, add and subtract features and make the kinds of changes people will bitch about. More importantly, our need for connections that Facebook has mined will not go away. While the folks at Google+may see this as an opportunity, the reality is that our Facebook experience will continue on its current course.

But, Wall Street’s demands for growth will be satisfied. Analysts – those people on the outside looking in – will start opining about what Facebook is, should be, needs to be, etc. The first time Facebook’s quarterly statement does not meet analyst’s projections (read: guesses) – Facebook will be forced into scramble mode in order to maintain their stock price. Like Starbucks, they will have to invent a new strategy that looks good on paper and bolsters analysts’ confidence -  which is usually a recipe for disaster.

Facebook built itself on a cowboy mentality. Mark Zuckerberg had a vision and because he was “the man”,  that vision was fulfilled. Now, he will have hundreds of bosses. Watching that battle will be entertaining.

While I’m not in the prediction business – here is one I will lay out there: Facebook advertising WILL change. Once they go public we will see how much revenue Facebook really generates and – more importantly – how much of that revenue goes to the bottom line. Facebook will then have to prove it can grow that pie. Not just grow it but grow it in a sustainable, quantifiable way that the analysts will believe.

Wall Street does not care that 850 million people use Facebook. They care about how much  money Facebook makes off those 850 million people. The growth they are seeking will not come from more people joining Facebook. Facebook’s goal may be total world domination but their audience growth curve is already plateauing. Sure, they’ll pass a billion – and probably more. But, those are just numbers on a page. Wall Street cares less about audience growth and audience share. They want you to “show me the money.” This is part of what happened to the radio industry.

So, expect to see Facebook ad rates change. Like gas prices, they will not be going down.

Expect to see more and different types of ads. Hello flash and leader board.

Expect to see Facebook become much more aggressive in selling and promoting those ads. Messages in your in-box promoting ads?

And, expect to see them try to branch out into other areas that are not currently part of their core business. as Google is trying to establish a beachhead in social, Facebook will get more aggressive in search (where the real money is).

This week’s IPO will not kill Facebook. However, unless Mark Zuckerberg decides to take his billions and go away – Facebook will change. Again.

Your thoughts?

Steve Allan, Social Media Specialist

SMThree

Social Media For Fun and Profit

This just in…apparently the reason everyone posts on Facebook, tweets from their smart phone, writes a blog, checks in on foursquare, pins recipe’s on Pintrest and watches video on You Tube is because…wait for it -  it’s FUN!

Don’t take my word for it. This has been proven in a study by the market research firm Penn Schoen Berland for the Hollywood Reporter.

Fully 88% of the participants in the study viewed Social Media platforms as just another – albeit new – form of entertainment. The sample was based on a demo of 13-49 so its pretty comprehensive. While there are variations in how each segment of that demo views and uses Social Media (after all, a 13-year-old shares few of the same traits of a 49-year-old) – the end result is that social Media is yet another pleasant form of diversion.

Personally, I have been preaching this mantra for years. However, it is nice to finally have some data to back this up.

For marketers it points out a not-so-startling fact – customers are NOT hanging out on Facebook or following tweets with the express purpose of interacting, engaging or joining a community that is associated with any business. Unless, of course, that business happens to be in the entertainment industry or deals with something that people are personally passionate about. We see great Social Media involvement when it comes to movies, music, cars, food, shopping, fashion or nerve-touching causes. Not so much when it comes to carpet cleaning, lawyers, tires or plumbing.

Entertainment is all about emotion. Be it comedy or drama – it is the emotional connection the content makes with the audience that creates (and completes) a relationship. If this study is to be believed, people are using Social Media as a diversion from their daily routine. This is something they do to connect with people they have an emotional connection with or to find something that will amuse them.

Yes, this is an oversimplification of the psychological need fulfillment that Social Media provides. But, we do not have to dig too deeply into the human psyche to see why the entertainment value of Social Media is so important to marketers.

Entertainment is all about “what’s in it for me.” Think of your own Social Media habits. Are you spending your time on Facebook looking for brands to connect with? Do you think the “general public” is any different?

So, how do you use this to become a better Social Media marketer?

First and foremost – be interesting! Provide something about your business, charity or brand that will get people to react in some sort of emotional way. Make them laugh, make them cry, make them think, surprise them, tell them something they did not know, reveal a hidden truth. The tactical application of creating an emotional reaction is part of the creative process. There is no one-size-fits-all here. It is the end-game you are searching for. There is an old adage for performers – love me, hate me but don’t ignore me. Indifference kills and the best way to create an audience is to strike an emotional chord with them.

Second, be wary of humor. Being funny is a hard. There is nothing worse than humor that falls flat. All too often, marketers think that “fun” means “funny”. They are two different emotions.

Third, be real. Social Media is about conversations. Truncated though they may be, anyone that reads your post or your tweet (or this blog) reads it alone. While you may be broadcasting that message to millions it is being read by individuals. There is a difference between having a conversation and giving a speech.

Striking an emotional chord with someone is damn hard. It is even more difficult when you are attempting to forge a human connection while masquerading as a “brand”. That is why you have to view your Social Media interactions in human terms.

Entertainment is a messy business that is built upon expectations. And those expectations are set even before your fans meet you. If you don’t “have them at hello” you will rarely get a second chance to impress them. Make sure your content passes the “who cares” test. Deliver emotion eliciting content on a regular basis. you don’t have to do it 100% of the time. Just often enough to create the feeling that you are worth my time.

In the end it is not about engagement or conversations or community building. It is about being remembered.

Your thoughts?

Steve Allan,

Social Media specialist

SMThree

Dang. It looks like Social Media killed advertising. Again.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that Social Media is not just changing the way we do business. It is rocking the very foundations on which business operates. Forget paradigm shifts – this is akin to a biological evolution. Thanks to Social Media I would not be surprised if we all start growing gills.

Gawd. Once again a Social Media Guru (or are they ninjas…I forget…) is pontificating about how EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED!!

You can read this article here.  But, in summary the author exclaims that traditional advertising is dead. The cute days of Mad Men where companies bought advertising to tell people about their products is gone. Over. Kaput.

For example, he says: Speaking to an audience, and selling to them, is largely an exercise in having the wisdom to enter a conversation that’s already happening in the prospect’s mind. It’s using the language the audience is already using.

So, we no longer advertise – we read minds! Wow, this Social Media thing is better than I thought. Seriously? You mean consumers are already thinking about us and we just have to figure out what language they are using and start a conversation about these thoughts in that language. Cool. Oh, where do we start that conversation? Telepathically? Perhaps a solid radio commercial or a billboard might get their attention. Just a thought…

He goes on…

If you’re throwing brand advertising at the masses and hoping something will stick, you’re playing a game that’s already over. Consumers have taken their ball and gone home.

Yes, they’ve gone home and are watching television. Last time I checked that was about four hours a day! Oh, and if you are just throwing ad campaigns against the wall then you need a new ad agency or a better plan.

Not done yet…

The equation used to be: money x media = business. The new equation is: time x media = business. In other words, every company is a media company.

So, my plumber is now a media company? Cool. Wonder if he offers HBO. Oh, wait, I get it. This is about the fact that every company has a story to tell and we are supposed to develop those stories and present them to interested consumers who will start a conversation with us leading to better engagement and a long-lasting relationship. Silly me, I just need a damn plumber to unclog my drains. Frankly, the last thing I really want to do is engage in a relationship with him…

I really hate to burst anyone’s bubble here but if you have a product or service you want to get in the hands of consumers, you will actually have to spend some money at some point. Yes, word-of-mouth marketing is great and Social Media is word-of-mouth on steroids. But it doesn’t…just…happen. You need to do something to start that fire. you will actually – at some point – interrupt someone’s train of thought and present your message to them in a very obvious way. A tweet ain’t going to cut it.

But wait, there’s more…

What does this look like in the real world? Here are three steps to creating a “campaign” that will last:

1. Build a minimum viable audience with useful, educational, and entertaining content.
2. Listen carefully to their frustrations, fears, problems, and desires.
3. Create or adapt products and services that better serve them.

This is a very simple strategy that can be very difficult to execute. But it’s absolutely worth it.

Where to begin? Build a minimum viable audience? How do I do that without MARKETING TO THEM? I can create all the useful, educational, entertaining content about plumbing I want but if no one sees it what does it matter?

Listen carefully…now that is actually great advice and one of the true benefits of being active in Social Media. This is especially true when it comes to reviews. Comments on Yelp, Foursquare, Google Places, etc. can have a powerful impact on the image of your business. These conversations happen whether or not you are paying attention so it is vitally important that you listen to the marketplace.

Create and adapt? Consumer feedback is very important. But, if you’re a plumber there is only so much creating and adapting you can do. Sure, you can improve your customer service, response time or create a “customer care” program. In the end – you’re still just offering plumbing services and you want to book as many jobs as you can.

Finally – a “simple strategy that is very difficult to execute.” Wait, I need to look up the definition of oxymoron…..yep, it fits.

There is nothing “simple” about this strategy. Creating “useful, educational & entertaining” content is damn hard. It takes creativity and ability. An understanding of what people who are looking for your product or service will find interesting. The author scoffs at both being creative and the creative process yet minimizes the necessity of creativity in order to execute his “simple” strategy. See definition above.

And finally…

If you had enough money, the good old days of brand advertising were truly good, like shooting fish in a barrel.

Dang, I wish I lived during the time of Mad Men. Apparently, all they had to do was sell something and people would flock like lemmings to the store to buy it. People believed what they were told and did what they were told. Now, this pesky Social Media thing has come along and caused us to think. Damn you Mark Zuckerberg!

Traditional advertising is not dead. Yes, there are more ways to reach a potential audience than ever before. However, in the end marketing is about creating awareness. There are many ways to do that – of which Social Media is just a small part.

Beware the bullshit. If you own a small or medium business or run a small non-profit you know how difficult it is to attract customers or donors. And, you balance the marketing aspects of this process with all the day-to-day stuff that keeps your doors open. Do not fall into the trap of believing that Social Media is a marketing panacea.

Social Media is here to stay. It is a great way to expand your marketing efforts. But, no amount of “useful, educational & entertaining” stories will replace old-fash- , uh, traditional marketing efforts.

Your thoughts?

Steve Allan, Social Media Specialist

SMThree

Overvaluing Social Media?

Are we overvaluing Social Media as a marketing tool? In today’s marketing world the buzz value of digital/social marketing is deafening.

This is just one of many studies you can uncover that shows the projected increase of digital media ad spending. As with all these studies, the growth curve is dramatic. You can’t swing a dead cat in a room of CMO‘s or Marketing gurus without getting the exclamation that ALL marketing is inexorably moving in the direction of being purely digital.

After all, the consumer now controls the conversation. We have precise metrics that show exactly what people are clicking on. It is now a given fact that people spend more time on Social Media than anywhere else on the web. Surely, the logic goes, this means the best and only place we should spend our marketing budgets is in digital.

Except when this logic flies in the face of facts.

Take, for example, the recent Nielsen figures showing on-line usage in the US. Astoundingly, over 212 MILLION Americans were on-line is March. That is one gigantic audience. Clearly, any company worth its salt needs to be doing its best to reach those people. Since most companies do not expand their marketing budgets this new spending stream needs to come from traditional media.

Why advertise on television or radio when EVERYONE is on-line. EVERYONE is using their smart phone and EVERYONE has a tablet. (Of course, the reality of this is false but since EVERYONE who works at an advertising agency or in a corporate marketing department has all these digital toys, it must be true….right?)

According to the most recent Nielsen figures, those 212 Million on-line Americans spend an average of an hour a day on-line. Further, they are on any given web page for about…a minute. Where they are likely looking for something besides an ad.

Compare this to the time we spend with “traditional” (that is to say, “old”) media. Americans spend – on average – 4 hours a day watching television (that’s real TV, not streaming stuff) and about 2 hours a day listening to over-the-air radio. clearly, they have not gotten the message that these media are no longer cool.

Assuming all these averages are accurate – and do not happen simultaneously – that means we consume about 8 hours of some level of electronic media a day. About 12.5% of our time is spent on-line.

I’m no math wiz but that tells me any marketing budget should align relatively close to those numbers, doncha think?

Now, this is where reality intrudes. Most small and medium businesses do not have the multi-million dollar marketing budgets that Coke or Ford has, so often television cannot be part of the equation. Heck, production costs alone preclude many from participating. Radio, while cost-effective – takes a true time commitment to be effective.

This is what makes digital/social marketing so attractive. It is relatively cheap, the production costs are ridiculously low and you can actually track how many times your ad is shown. (Quick caveat – “shown” does not mean “seen”. An on-line ad that has one million impressions could be one million people seeing it once or one person seeing it a million times.) And, this does not take into account the coolness factor of digital/social advertising.

Pardon me for being simplistic, but, in order for people to buy from you or donate to you – they need to know who in the hell you are! They need to find out what you offer, where they can find you and why what you have means a ball of wax to them.

Yes, you can pump up a Social Media presence, buy ads on Facebook, promote tweets, place display ads on various networks. You probably should be doing - or considering – all of these. However, if you think that just by doing this you’ll achieve critical mass in their attention spans – you’re nuts.

Generally speaking, well thought out digital/social campaigns support, amplify and enhance traditional media marketing. Creating and maintaining a regular presence works -  frequency sells, after all. Though there are many who will say the age of “intrusive” marketing is over – they are dead wrong. People are not placidly lying in wait to “interact” with your messages. You need a bull horn and a sledge-hammer to get their attention.

I’m not saying you should ignore digital/Social Media marketing. Just put it into perspective. Make it a part of your marketing strategy. Understand the medium – as you would TV or radio – and maximize its effectiveness.

Just don’t get caught by the undertow of the buzz.

Your thoughts?

Steve Allan, Social Media Specialist

SMThree

Social Media Internships

One way to find out how interested companies are in adding to their Social Media acumen is to see what types of people they are looking to hire. So, I was trolling several employment websites the other day and I plugged “social media” into the job search field.

Instantly there were hundreds of listings.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of them had titles like this:

MARKETING/SOCIAL MEDIA INTERNSHIP

COMMUNICATIONS/SOCIAL MEDIA INTERNSHIP

SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST INTERN

and, one of my favorites:

SOCIAL MEDIA INTERN – SUPER BOWL

Clearly, company after NPO is looking to beef up their Social Media presence and the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to do that is by hiring a bunch of interns to do the job. Why not? This is the generation that was weaned on AIM, nurtured by texting and lives with a permanent USB port in the back of their head. They live and breathe Social Media and since most of the people in charge of these companies neither tweet nor pin, it makes sense to turn this part of their marketing strategy over to someone with the technical chops to handle it.

Now, before you go accusing me of ageism, here are some of the responsibilities that are being entrusted to interns:

Cultivate contacts at news organizations…Nothing journalists like better than a cold call from an intern.

Evaluate the current social media strategy…and have that report on my desk in the morning.

Utilizing and coordinating creative assets…plug in the projector for the Power Point presentation, please.

Tweet live during events…OMG…we’re sitting here and listening to this guy talk and its really interesting #eventname

Wait…what? Do you really want a 20-year-old college junior who has never worked for your company or NPO to be the face of your organization in Social Media? Do they really understand the subtle nuances of your brand or mission enough to be able to make critical judgments on what is or is not appropriate to say?

Do not think that I am against internships. I think it is our responsibility to train people in our industries. We have all had mentors at some point in our careers and that kind of coaching is invaluable.

Unfortunately, it seems like the internship “experience” is being applied in two ways.

One, we are turning over our Social Media strategy to Sara from UVA for the three months she will be here. She has a Facebook page, tweets, has her own Tumblr blog and is even working with this new thing called Pintrest. She is just the person to lead us out of the dark and set this company on the right path to being really cool in Social Media. And, when she leaves we’ll just get another intern to replace her!

Two, we are going to use interns in their traditional role – grunt work. Since they know how to handle the interwebs they can gather data, search articles, find You Tube videos we can use and go grab snacks for the afternoon staff meeting.

Somewhere in the middle is an appropriate use of an intern. Look, I worked in radio for a long time and we used and abused interns on a regular basis. And, maybe, one out of ten of them showed the passion, drive, ambition and aptitude to do something beyond basic grunt work. Those people we took under our wing and actually trained them. But, we never, ever put them in a front line position where they represented our brand. Why? Because it isn’t fair to them.

Whatever your industry, there are young people out there with the passion and desire to work with you. Internships provide them with invaluable experience and can often lead to that first “foot in the door”. Yes, their primary role is to do menial tasks and soak up knowledge. However, they can also be a source of fresh ideas and an innocent perspective not tainted by the day-to-day of the work environment.

But, should you turn over your Social Media strategy and execution to them? Absolutely not! Would you bring in a marketing intern to run your direct mail campaign or write and produce your television ads? Would HR bring in an accounting intern and have them do the payroll?  Then, why would you turn what is becoming an increasingly important part of any marketing strategy over to a rookie?

I have this sneaking suspicion that too many organizations see Social Media internships as a  way of putting a toe in the water. Rather than commit real resources, they can get started for “free”. (And why not, Facebook, Twitter, etc – they’re all free…)

Forget about accountability. forget about sustainability. Forget about consistency. It seems these companies and non-profits think it is more important to have a Social Media presence without any thought to how it will look or function. It just astounds me.

I am a 100% advocate for internships. Bring ‘em in by the bus load. Get them involved. Train them and listen to them. But – do not give them the keys to the executive washroom (obtuse Mad Men reference…)

Steve Allan, Former Intern & Social Media Specialist

SMThree

Social Media Bullshit

I have not posted for a while because, well, because I just didn’t feel like writing another blog about some meaningful event that was transpiring in the Social Media “verse”. I decided to spend more time reading than writing and came to the conclusion that when it comes to Social Media – there’s a lot of bullshit out there.

First, let me state that I do believe that Social Media is useful – even necessary – for businesses and non-profits. But, man, there are a lot of people out there slinging a lot of hash (not hashtags) about Social Media and how it is now the king of all media (sorry, Howard).

I kept seeing the studies and surveys that tell me how much spending on Social Media marketing will continue to dramatically increase until it eclipses the GDP of Eritrea. Of course, all these studies and surveys are conducted with marketing managers and ad agency execs who are talking more about process than production.

We see more and more brands diving into the Social Media fray talking about hopes and aspirations – but delivering very little in the way of sales or donations.

And, the ever-expanding universe of Social Media gurus, experts, ninjas and wizards continue to shout the equivalent of “expeto patronus” hoping that the green flashes blind the rest of us to the harsh realities of Social Media. They prey on the small and medium business person who generally hails from an age when sitcoms ruled TV and newspapers provided the news-of-the-day. The buzz is so pervasive they are ready to do anything just to make sure they can say they are Facebooking and Tweeting and doing whatever else the kids these days do.

Hence, all the bullshit.

So, in an attempt to shovel the stall floor I will  clarify some misconceptions, assumptions and distortions.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS ESSENTIAL - Despite all the bullshit Social Media IS a necessary part of your marketing strategy. However, it is only a part of the plan. Social Media is the tail, not the dog. It complements (some say amplifies) what you are doing through your other marketing channels. In the late ’90′s consumers and donors expected you to have a web page. It was a novelty that evolved into a necessity. Today, they “expect” you to have – at the very least -  a Facebook page. This does not mean they care, will visit it or even like it. They just expect to see that blue “F” on your collateral material.

IT IS NOT ALL OR NOTHING – This does not mean you MUST have a presence on every Social Media platform. You just need to be somewhere – and Facebook is the best place to start. If you’re in the customer service business you do need to claim your Yelp page, be aware of foursquare and monitor any other mentions of your brand. But, do you really need a You Tube channel if you do not have the resources to produce regular and interesting video content? Do you need to maintain a Flickr account in addition to posting pictures on your Facebook page? And what’s all this brouhaha about Twitter? Do you have enough to say to justify the time investment? Then there’s Pintrest and Google+, oy.

That said, once you take the plunge you have to maintain it. That is why it is important to decide what you can support before you dive off the ledge. If you do not have the resources, time or ideas to maintain a Social Media presence every day – wait. Better to have no presence than a lame one.

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA – In a word – fun. People use Social Media to post pictures, connect with friends and share what they are doing. It is self-indulgent and self-gratifying. That is the key motivator for the incredible spread of Social Media.

So, before you make the plunge you need to ask yourself how you can inject your mission or brand qualities into this stream. People are not sitting on Facebook waiting to hear from their plumber or Goodwill. It is up to you to give them a reason to like you, share you and otherwise give a damn about you. Which means you need to master the Holy Grail of Social Media – content!

That means you need to hire someone who can write and create. Sorry, but sloughing it off on the interns or that recent college grad is not the same as developing a content strategy. This stuff takes time and effort. Content development is both a skill and an art form.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS ABOUT LISTENING – If you don’t have the time or the content to deeply involve yourself in Social Media you must – at the very least – pay attention to what is going on around you. People are talking about your brand. Unfortunately, many of those conversations are negative. Let’s face it, anger about a bad service experience is more motivating than joy over a pleasant one.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY - The Parento principle dictates that only a few of your customers or donors will give a damn about your Social Media. So, do not get caught up in the numbers game. Do not gaze longingly at Facebook pages that are thousands strong. Base your expectations on your universe. A good place to start is with your email database. If you are going to launch a Facebook page set as your goal 10% of your database.

THINK LIKE A FAN - What is in it for them? Why should they care about what you have to say? Deliver content that matters to them! You don’t develop a relationship by talking about yourself in the real world – why would that technique work in Social Media?

I am a big fan of Social Media. Heck, I even earn a living doing it. But, I also see it for what it is. A great marketing platform that has its own set of rules and procedures and requires constant attention. At the same time, it is a work in progress and changes almost every single day (hello, Pintrest).

Does your business or NPO need to be there? Absolutely. Just be smart about it and watch where you step.

Steve Allan, SMThree

Social Media Specialist.

The Social Media Complaint Department

Take a number, our customer service representative will be with you shortly…

My friend Doug Erickson, who writes an excellent blog here, recently forwarded me an interesting article titled: A Better Way To Handle Publicly Tweeted Complaints.

The gist is that in the age of Social Media consumers have the ability to flame your business in near real-time. And, their complaints reach a wider audience than ever before. This does not just apply to Twitter. You can find “bad” reviews on Facebook, Yelp, Google Places and literally hundreds of other websites.

With that in mind, a business has to balance the need to respond appropriately with the understanding that some people will never be satisfied. Social Media empowers the complainers and the more attention you direct their way the more likely they are to raise their voice.

Keep in mind that no business, service or product is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. If you serve 1000 customers a week at a 99.5% success ratio you still have the potential of pissing off twenty people every month.

People are more likely to complain than to praise-especially in this economic environment. We scrutinize our purchases more than ever which causes us to raise our expectation level on what we get for what we pay. When your company does not deliver on what your customers think you promised, they get cranky.

That’s when they turn to Social Media to vent their frustrations. And vent they will!

While these rants alert potential customers to the pitfalls of doing business with you they also give the greater community at large a chance to defend you. This is the double-edged sword nature of Social Media. However, you can only create support if you consistently respond to any comments made about you. If you develop a reasonable response policy and are honest about dealing with people’s feelings you go a long way towards creating a positive vibe about your company.

So, how should you handle customer complaints in cyber-space?

Pay Attention – Even if you’re not participating in the conversation about your brand – people are talking about you. Monitor Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp, etc. Set up Google alerts around your name.

React quickly – But not immediately. The last thing you want to do is pen a knee-jerk reaction to a bad review. You need to defuse the complainer’s emotions with facts. Do what you can to gather as much information as possible so you can address the complaint accurately.

Post Something – When you ignore complaints you foster the image that you do not care. Even if you have a stock answer like: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Customer satisfaction is very important to us. We are investigating this matter and will report back to you with possible solutions shortly”. This sends the message to the 99.5% of your satisfied customers (and any potential customers) that you take this seriously. Remember, your customers will naturally feel affinity to the complainer. How you treat one person is how (they think) you treat everyone.

Do Not Defend – Even if the complainer is a screaming yahoo do not engage in a back-and-forth with them. For goodness sakes, do NOT tell them why they are wrong. Everyone assumes you are wrong. Work backward from that point. When you start debating the issue you give the impression you are not listening.

Follow Up – Once you have resolved the situation to your customer’s satisfaction – let everyone know that the situation is resolved. Better yet, ask the customer to post that. Closure is important.

Go off-line – If possible, engage the complainer off-line. Post your email or direct phone number and encourage them to contact you for resolution. Even if they don’t you come across as the good guy.

Accept Defeat – Despite your best efforts some people will never be satisfied. Others may just be trying to scam you. If you put forth an honest – and public – effort to satisfy them and they are still dropping f-bombs on you…just walk away.

The internet is forever. Reviews of your business will linger for a very long time.When people search for feedback on why they should use you they will find old reviews. Chances are, they won’t notice that the date on the complaint is from 2008. They will only care about the problem and how you solved it.

Thoughts?

Steve Allan, Social Media Specialist

SMThree