Post This, Not That: Social Media Etiquette for Brands

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 10:00 AM PST

Note from Mack: This is a Guest Post from Kerry Gorgone, who is an instructor at Full Sail University, a lawyer, and Wonder Woman in her spare time. Check out her previous guest post here on protecting yourself and your works online.

Your brand needs to participate in the conversations that people are having about you in social media. 44% of Americans get information about brands via social networks, and more than half of consumers who mention a brand on Twitter expect a response within one hour. You can't have a positive impact on brand sentiment or customer service until you join the discussion.

Consequently, going where your audience is makes good sense, provided the content you post there enhances your audience's experience, rather than disrupting it. Here are some pointers.

Be conversational, not promotional.

For starters, don't overtly shill. No matter which social network your brand is on, every post can't be "Enjoy a hot cup of Brand X coffee!" People will unfollow you—or at least hide your posts—if your content is too self-serving.

Hidden posts are especially detrimental for marketers, because it looks as though you have a certain number of "Likes" for your business page, but people aren't seeing your content, so engagement rates plummet.

Facebook's algorithm already engineers things so that only a small percentage of people who have liked your page will see your posts, so you can't afford to lose any. For some general guidelines on how to behave on Facebook, check out Jennifer Kane's excellent primer.

Instead of pitching or selling via social, ask questions, share tips or quotes, or share photos. Visuals are playing an increasingly important role across the board. Multi-photo posts on Facebook increased engagement 1290% in one case (and that's not a typo).

Exercise caution when "newsjacking"

"Newsjacking" done right can masterfully direct traffic to your social media profiles and site while the news story you're playing off of remains "hot." Newsjacking done wrong can really damage your brand.

Social media posts during a crisis demand extra-thoughtful consideration. While your brand may well want to express sympathy for people impacted by a tragedy, it's better to say nothing than to post something that people perceive as insensitive or exploitive.

Entrepreneur suggests asking 5 questions to guide you through the decision-making process on social media posts about the news. Run through them before you post: you won't regret taking the time to reflect.

Match the tone of the conversation

Also remember that each social network has its own culture, so people who follow you on Twitter will expect a different conversational tone than those who follow you on Facebook or Instagram. If you haven't been active yet, spend some time observing how your audience posts on each social network, so you'll know what they expect.

Amy Howell of Howell Marketing shared this apt explanation: “Twitter is like being in a crowded, noisy bar. Facebook is like your living room. LinkedIn is like the chamber of commerce.”

Know when and where to use #Hashtags

Including hashtags in your social media posts can help people to find your content and follow the conversation, but they don't work on every social network, and even if the functionality is supported, they might not be a fit for the culture.

Tweets with hashtags get twice the engagement, but hashtags actually lower engagement for Facebook posts, and hashtags don't work on LinkedIn at all.

Understand your unique audience

Social media statistics provide a good starting point, but understanding your own audience will help you to deliver the kind of content that users will truly appreciate. Gather information on your audience through analytics and customer surveys, and test different types of posts, as well as post times.

Whether you sit down in a "noisy bar" or network at the "chamber of commerce," think of social media as an extension of your relationship with your audience.

Is a brand you follow doing it right (or wrong)? Post a comment and tell us about it!

Pic via Flickr user Brett Jordan

Your Field Guide to What it Means When Someone Complains About Your Brand Online

Posted: 18 Nov 2013 06:00 AM PST

It can be a scary (online) world out there, y’all.

For brands, this online world is particularly scary because they are very visible targets. There’s no shortage of complaints and negative comments being hurled at them. What’s worse, if they ignore the comments, they tend to multiply. What’s even worse, most brands aren’t sure how to respond. It can easily become a no-win situation.

So if we accept that your brand can’t ignore negative comments and complaints online, then we need to figure out how you will respond to them. But before you can respond appropriately, you need to properly assess who you are responding to!

The Three Types of People That Will Complain About Your Brand

When you encounter a negative comment about your brand online, you need to understand who it is coming from, because that impacts how you will respond. Negative brand comments come from one of three sources: Angry customers, passionate fans or trolls. Here’s how to recognize each.

1 – Angry customers. This is the most comment source of complaints you will see online. Typically the complaint will deal with a very specific issue that this customer is having, and nothing else. The complaint may include some larger statements about how this issue reflects poorly on your brand, but these are typically included to stress to the brand the need to pay attention to the person and fix their problem.

Example complaint from an Angry Customer: “I just bought your writing software program and I can’t get it installed on my PC, and I can’t get anyone to help me! I followed the instructions I found online (no manual included, why did I have to go online for instructions?) and it still won’t start. I called your 1-800 customer service line and it said there was a 2 hour wait! I just left a tweet to @SoftwareCustomerService on Twitter but so far no response! Look I just want to get this product working, but I can’t get anyone at your company to help me! Can you please call me at 1-800-frustrated customer or email me at need.help@acustomer.com?”

Note the complaint is only about their specific issue and how they want a resolution. That’s it. Note also that this customer is only contacting you because he tried to get the help he needed by himself, and couldn’t.

2 – Passionate fans. This one is difficult for the untrained eye to spot. The difference between a complain coming from a fan is that since the fan views themselves as owners of your brand, they feel an obligation to bring the issue to your attention. But the fan will also communicate to you how you should resolve the issue, or they will offer to help you resolve the issue. This is the easiest way to differentiate a complaint from a passionate fan vs a complaint from an angry customer. The angry customer simply wants you to resolve THEIR issue, then they could care less if you fix the larger problem with your brand. Whereas a passionate fan will focus less on a specific issue and more on how this is a larger problem for your brand, that needs to be corrected. The fan will typically offer advice and suggestions for fixing the problem or making it better. And they will frequently volunteer to work with you to help implement their suggestions. Again, fans view themselves as owners of your brand, so they feel they have ‘skin in the game’ and will act in what they perceive to be the brand’s best interests.

Example complaint from a Passionate Fan: “Hey there! I’m a frequent customer at your restaurant on 201 Church Ave and typically love the service I get there when I come in for lunch. However, over the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed that lunchtime service seems to be getting slower and slower, and the line of customers waiting to have their orders taken seems to get longer each time I go there for lunch. I do notice that there seems to be several new members working there, so perhaps it’s just a matter of them needing to get up to speed. But I have to say, I’m starting to notice that customers are leaving due to the long lines and going elsewhere for lunch, I hate to see you lose business due to slow service!”

Here, the person is careful to identify herself as someone that frequents this location, and that she is typically happy with the service there. Also, she is careful to point out how the long lines are having an impact on the brand, by driving customers away to a competitor. The tone isn’t angry, instead its sympathetic, she’s hoping that your brand will correct these issues, because she is a fan.

3 – Trolls. Trolls typically attack the brand in vague terms rather than specific issues or events. Rather than complaining about a specific issue with your brand, they might try to attack your brand based on your brand supporting certain charities or causes or political candidates. Or they might complain about your products or service in general, and not focus on specific interactions they have had with your brand. ’You suck’ is their catch-phrase. A troll simply wants attention and engagement, whereas angry customers or fans want a resolution. Trolls just want you to keep engaging them, and they will typically try to piss you off in order to make that happen.

Example complaint from a Troll: “Is your brand still trying to act like it cares about the environment? You can launch all the ‘go green’ initiatives you want, but we both know it’s purely propaganda, your brand doesn’t care about the environment, you are only piggybacking on a popular marketing trend for your own benefit!”

Note the attack is very vague and the claims are difficult/impossible to substantiate. Again, the idea is to spark a response, ideally an angry response, at which point the troll would likely claim that they were being attacked by your brand. Remember the saying ‘Don’t feed the troll’.

Tomorrow I’ll go more in-depth into how to respond to negative comments online. But in short, here’s a quick cheat-sheet for responding to complaints online, based on the person making the complaint:

Angry customer – Resolve their specific issue as soon as possible. Try to move the exchange offline so you can get specific information from them. Also communicate to the appropriate teams internally where the customer encountered breakdowns in the customer service chain that resulted in their complaint. Make sure you followup with the customer and ensure that their issue is resolved to their satisfaction. Handling a complaint from an angry customer effectively is the quickest way to convert a detractor into a fan of your brand.

Passionate fan – Communicate to the fan that you are taking their feedback seriously, and will forward their recommendations to the proper people within your brand. Ask the fan if they would be interested in giving you more feedback related to your brand. A true fan will jump at this chance and it’s an opportunity to build an ongoing relationship with your fan.

Troll – In general, it’s best to ignore trolls. If they are trolling on your site/blog, you are typically within your bounds to delete their comment, especially if it is a vague attack. If they are leaving comments on another site, it’s still best to ignore them, but if they continually harass your brand you should contact the site administrator and ask them to look into the troll’s actions.

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Monday, November 18, 2013