Negative word-of-mouth happens to everyone. No industry, brand or product is immune to it. When it happens in social media, it can feel extra painful — because it’s out there in the open for everyone to see.
But true word-of-mouth marketers know that these experiences — while sometimes frustrating and disappointing — are opportunities in disguise. They take advantage of these moments to show customers that they’re listening, that they’re human and sometimes make mistakes, and that they care enough to fix the problem.
The next time it happens to you, think of these inspiring strategies others have used to win over upset customers.
- Make them laugh: There’s obviously a time and a place for jokes when it comes to fielding customer complaints, but a good sense of humor can be disarming and personal enough to defuse a negative comment while showing you’re human. Bodyform famously did it with a hilarious (and viral) video response to a husband’s rant on the brand’s Facebook page about the company’s misleading, euphemistic TV commercials.
SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Social Media — tracks feedback from leading marketers about social media practices and issues.
This week, we asked: What’s your reaction to the news that Facebook is preparing to offer 15-second video ads on its network?
- Hate it: 60.26%
- Don’t care: 21.79%
- Not sure: 10.58%
- Love it: 7.37%
Most SmartBrief on Social Media readers seem to hate the idea of unprompted video ads coming to Facebook. Reports hold that the ads will be muted by default, but will begin playing without users interaction. I think the decision to mute the ads is a smart one — nothing is more annoying that loading a page and being automatically bombarded with audio from a video ad you have to scroll to see or, more likely, turn off.
I suspect that readers dismay has less to do with the fact that the ads will use video, than with the prospect of yet more ads invading the Facebook experience. (read more…)
Several months have passed since Facebook introduced Graph Search, making a major footprint into the Google-dominated search world. Now, consumers can find what they need based on what their friends enjoy and recommend, and easily form connections with people who have mutual interests.
Not surprisingly, Graph Search was on the minds of search and marketing experts at the SES Conference in New York City at the end of March. Glenn Gabe, Digital Marketing Consultant at G-Squared, and Clayburn Griffin, Organic Search Director at GroupM, shared insights on how Facebook’s new search tool will impact brand and consumer interactions as well as page ranking. Both speakers made it clear that among the many search-ranking factors, the quality of Facebook Fans—people who value the brand’s updates and actively engage with its content—will greatly impact a page’s ranking. To succeed, organizations need to fully integrate themselves into the Facebook community by publishing consumer-centric content that motivates engagement. (read more…)
No one likes a showoff.
But you’re doing all of these great things — delivering great service, selling great products and earning new fans. Wouldn’t those make for great stories to share?
Absolutely. And as a word-of-mouth and social media marketer, it’s your job to help those stories get shared. But before you e-mail everyone that news release or tweet that #humblebrag, consider how these beloved companies show off without annoying their fans and followers.
- Show off your employees: If you want to humanize your brand with social media, you’re in luck — humans work for you and run your social media presence, too. So make them the focus of your content. For example, during an ongoing contest, Threadless fans were rewarded with videos of employees performing weird skits, such as a one-person pillow fight or a sandwich-making contest. The brand’s fans loved it and shared it, and the brand got tons of new fans to participate, too.
SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Social Media — tracks feedback from leading marketers about social media practices and issues.
This week, we asked: Would you use a two-step authentication process to secure your social media accounts if such a service were available?
- Yes: 75.80%
- Not sure: 14.65%
- No: 9.55%
Recent security breaches at Twitter have certainly gotten SmartBrief on Social Media readers’ attention. But even before the Associated Press was hacked, Twitter was already working on a multifactor security solution, which should shortly be available to all users.
Security experts are uncertain, however, as to whether these kinds of security features will actually protect users from such attacks. I think readers would be wise to embrace a two-step security solution — but not rely on it. The truth is that we’re always going to be in an arms race with hackers and other malevolent Web forces. (read more…)
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