Social Media Fails
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21-Oct-2014 -
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Transcript of Social Media Fails
Social media failsWhat happens when things go wrong and how to fix it
As well as knowing when your brand needs social media, and what platform
it’s best suited to...
...you need to know what to do when it goes wrong
Brands are no longer in controlTHE MOMENT A
BRAND OPENS A FACEBOOK PAGE
OR A TWITTER ACCOUNT, THEY
ARE HANDING A BIG CHUNK OF
CONTROL TO THEIR FANS AND
FOLLOWERS...
“Consumers can now openly challenge brands in an environment where there is scope to make a massive
amount of noise.”
“Companies can’t gag users, or ignore them. It is feasibly possible to hold brands to a certain extent of reputation ransom, at least for those firms that care
about their reputations (not all do)”
Econsultancy
Where can it go wrong?
1 Human error
2 Misjudging the audience
3 PR disaster
There is a big list of ways that social media end in disaster, but we will take a look at examples that fall under these three areas:
In some cases, brands have been known to fall foul of all three!!
Human error
ChryslerTHE TWEET WAS
DELETED AFTER A COUPLE OF MINUTES BUT
IT WAS LONG ENOUGH FOR FOLLOWERS TO SEE
IT AND RETWEET.
CHRYSLER POSTED A PUBLIC APOLOGY ON
THEIR BLOG. THE MISTAKE WAS MADE BY AN EMPLOYEE OF THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY
AND HE WAS DULY FIRED NOT LONG
AFTER, AND CHRYSLER PULLED THE ACCOUNT.
American Red CrossSIMPLE CASE OF
TWEETING FROM THE WRONG ACCOUNT, BUT THIS TIME RED CROSS TURNED THE FAIL INTO
A SUCCESS WITH A COMEDY RESPONSE
WHICH LED TO DOGFISH HEAD GIVING THEM A
#FF AND INSTRUCTING THEIR OWN
FOLLOWERS TO DONATE TO THE RED CROSS, WHICH THEY DID. WITH THE RIGHT
BRAND AND IF YOU ARE QUICK, A NIGHTMARE
CAN BE TURNED INTO A SUCCESS STORY
1. Need to have approval and sign off processes in place...and always double check after the update has been posted.
2. If it is wrong, take it down immediately and monitor the reaction. Were you quick enough?
1. Yes - Amend and re-post where possible.
2. No - If you were not quick enough or the situation is serious, escalate and follow your crisis management plan
But most importantly, run your personal Twitter account from somewhere different to the brand account.
Rules to avoid human error
Misjudging the audience
Kenneth ColeTHIS SHOWS THAT EVEN
WITH THE OWNER OF THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE WHEEL IT CAN STILL GO
HORRIBLY WRONG WHEN YOU MIS JUDGE THE
AUDIENCE
THIS WAS PUBLISHED IN THE HIGHT OF THE
EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION WHEN TWITTER WAS
BEING USED BY EGYPTIANS TO
COORDINATE DEMOS. THE RESULT WAS PUBLIC OUTCRY AND A FORMAL
APOLOGY FROM KENNETH COLE HIMSELF
Ragu
RAGU TWEETED AT INFLUENTIAL DADS
WITH A SHORT VIDEO BASHING DADS FOR
NOT BEING ADVENTUROUS WITH
THEIR COOKING
AMONG THE BLOGGERS CONTACTED WAS CC
CHAPMAN, A KEY INFLUENCER AND
PROUD FATHER, WHO FOUND THE VIDEO
HIGHLY OFFENSIVE AND BLOGGED ABOUT IT,
LEADING TO A TRENDING HASHTAG, #RAGUHATESDADS
Rules to avoid misjudging the audience
1. Think before you post.
2. Really think before you post!
3. Is what you are about to post relevant and value adding to the audience? If the answer is ‘no’ you probably shouldn’t post it.
4. When it goes wrong, it goes wrong very fast so be prepared with a robust crisis management plan.
PR disaster
KryptoniteTOUTED AS BEING THE
MOST SECURE BIKE LOCK ON THE MARKET, A
VIDEO POPPED UP SHOWING THE
‘EVOLUTION 2000’ BEING PICKED WITH A BIRO
RATHER THAN ACKNOWLEDGE THE FAULT, KRYPTONITE STAYED SILENT AND
MISSED A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO
CROWD SOURCE THE R&D OF THE NEXT
GENERATION OF LOCKS WITH THEIR FANS AND
FOLLOWERS
Rules for avoiding a PR disaster
1. Depending on the scale of the issue, you might have to resign yourself to damage limitation
2. Employ social media best practice and put that crisis management plan into practice
3. Keep fans and followers updated. There is nothing worse than unchecked rumours to fuel the fire
4. Is this a negative that could be turned into a positive?
But most importantly, TALK TO YOUR AUDIENCE, DON’T GIVE THEM THE SILENT TREATMENT
How to prepare
Social media crisis management plan
AgilityThe
personal touch
Openness
Moving quickly
Speaking to customers in a
personal tone of voice
Transparency and honesty
In simple terms, these three golden rules should always apply:
GREAT
YOU CAN LET THE POST STANDOR RESPOND WITH THANKS
SHOULD YOU RESPOND?
IS THE POST POSITIVE?
IS THE POST FACTUALLY INCORRECT
OR MISGUIDED?
IS THE POST FROM AN UNHAPPY CUSTOMER, ( A POOR EXPERIENCE
INSTORE / WITH PRODUCT / FROM COLLEAGUE ETC)?
RESPOND DIRECTLY TO THE POST WITH THE CORRECT FACTUAL
INFORMATION AND LINKS TO
FURTHER DETAILS
DO NOT RESPOND
LET THE POSTSTAND IF
IT’S A NEUTRAL POSTING
SHOW GRATITUDE FOR POSITIVE
FEEDBACK
IS THE POST OFFENSIVE, DEFAMATORY OR
DEGRADING IN NATURE?
RESPOND AND RECTIFY THE SITUATION
ACT APPROPRIATELY AND DEMONSTRATE HOW WE WILL LEARN FROM THE SITUATION AND IMPROVE THESERVICE /
PRODUCT IN FUTURE
REMOVE POSTS FROMINDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS
DEEMED TO BE OFFENSIVE / ABUSIVE LAUNGUAGE WHERE APPROPRIATE
RESPOND TO THE POSTER (3 STRIKES AND YOU’RE
OUT APPROACH)
MONITOR THE SITE FOR PERSISTENT OFFENDERS
(WARN/ REPORT / REMOVE FAN AS APPROPRIATE)
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
YESNO
At a granular levels, you should be prepared for a range of situations:
Social media crisis management plan
In any situation...
Listen Prepare Be openBe
consistent
Take action
Listen to the conversation happening around your brand
Prepare a point of view and how you will aim to add value, or limit the damage being caused
Be open and honest in all of your communications, through all of your channels
Consistent communication across all of the stakeholders and consumer touch points to make sure there is no confusion
And finally, take action and put it all into practice.
Doing nothing, and hoping it will fix itself, is the worse thing you can do...