Despite the dramatic hold social media has taken on our lives, many of the big guys in business are still ruled by the impression that social media is something their teenage daughters mess around with after school and at weekends. To them, social media and business just don’t mix.
Yet the truth is – most companies are already being affected by social media, even if they’re not actively using it themselves.
It’s most likely that someone, somewhere, has submitted a review or Tweeted a comment about what they did or didn’t like about you. If that comment is negative, you need to be there to fix the problem as quickly as possible.
People research before they buy – times have changed; when in years gone by we had to choose brands based on advertising and the word of friends and family, today’s consumer has power and choice.
If they want to buy a new phone, book a table at a restaurant or enroll their child in a nursery, there’s a high chance they will research their options online first.
If your company is surrounded by negative criticism they are going to bypass you. Chances are, one of your competitors is more adept than you at social media and thus their online presence will be much more favorable.
Handling social media is a skill – while it would make sense that those who have a true love for your company are best placed to look after your reputation in the online sphere, this idea doesn’t always hold true.
There’s a particular knack to handling social media, not only with regards to what you post and the information you share, but also with how you respond to your customer’s complaints or praise.
Business owners or even loyal employees can let emotions get in the way when it comes to negative criticism. When it’s your firm, your staff or your food that’s been slated it’s very difficult not to launch into an emotional tirade of defense.
Yet this sort of response will only do you further harm. The right response entails acknowledging the problem, apologizing for it and providing a solution. Understandably this can be hard when you feel as if you’ve been personally attacked.
For this reason, it’s often advisable to employ the services of an external social media agency or online marketing company that has no emotional attachment to your firm.
This is only the beginning – while people might be talking about the momentous significance of social media today, wait ten or fifteen years.
The Internet and social media are the future. The longer you leave ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ the further behind you will fall.
This article was written by Amy Fowler of Boom Online Marketing; a UK based online marketing company and social media agency.
Featured photo courtesy of Mashable.com’s photo stream
