I came across a story in which I was completely shocked with how a company responded to a negative comment about them on Twitter.
Someone had tweeted about a negative experience they had at a grocery store and they mentioned the grocery store's twitter name in the tweet. Since the grocery store was mentioned in the tweet they were able to view the negative feedback and use this opportunity to respond to the customer and try to build a better relationship with them. Instead they threw all PR common sense out the window. The grocery store's public relations and/or social media team contacted the customer's employer, posted on their Twitter bio, requesting that some sort of disciplinary action be taken because of their negative tweet. The grocery store did reply to the negative tweet directly but did not wait for a response back before bringing the person's employer into the situation. The grocery store told the employer that their employees negativity towards their store could possibly hinder the relationship between the two companies.
I was floored that a public relations professional would take this approach to deal with a negative comment. This kind of behavior does not solve the original problem of a unsatisfied customer, but rather makes the problem bigger. By contacting the customer's employer, they have distanced their company more from the customer and have probably created more negativity toward their stores. If I was a part of this grocery store's public relations team, I would have taken this opportunity to address the customer and find out what the store could do differently to create a more enjoyable experience. Contacting a person's employer because of a negative comment is not only horrible public relations, but just bad business. A business should want to take the negative feedback and correct what they are doing wrong in order to build stronger relationships with their customers and potential customers.
Social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook are excellent ways for companies to connect with their publics and see what is being said about them. It can be a great tool for improving what businesses are doing, creating new relationships and allowing existing relationships to grow. When used in correctly thought, social media can do to complete opposite. To avoid these kinds of disasters, a social media plan should be implemented by companies choosing to use these tools and a certain level of social media etiquette should be practiced by all who are involved in the process.
Link to Full Article
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Beginners Guide to Connecting and Engaging on Twitter
A few days ago a link to an article title "(My) Beginners Guide to Connecting and Engaging on Twitter" popped up on my Facebook news feed. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at and see if it could relate to Public Relations.
Even though the article was written for individual Twitter use I found the tips could easily be applied to a PR department trying to create a presence in the social media world. I thought the first suggestion under the "Connecting" section would be a piece of advice that PR people should strongly consider when developing a Twitter and trying to connect with people in their target markets. If a PR department or agency is able to connect with influential users in audience they are trying to reach, those people are more likely to pay attention to the messages a particular company is putting out and pass it along to others - much like we discussed in class.
Engaging with a company's publics is one of the most important aspects of social media for PR people to focus on. I think all the advice given in the article can apply to companies trying to develop social media. Tweeting more non-self serving tweets will show people that your company is concise of what other people are doing and willing to give praise where praise is deserved. I think doing these types of things will help build a positive image for your company and will attract more people to following your twitter.
The main thing for PR people to be conscious of when developing a Twitter and engaging with people via Twitter is to purposely engage and participate in relevant chats. No one wants their Twitter feed to be blown up with irrelevant and pointless tweets. The purpose of a company having a Twitter is to have an easier and faster way to engage and communicate with their target publics. That being said, the last thing a PR person wants to happen is to lose the loyalty of the publics because the company's social media messages are pointless or put out so often that they become annoying.
Twitter is a great social media tool for companies to connect and communicate more freely with their target markets, but if not used correctly it can backfire and push potential clients further away from the company. Developing a social media presence for companies is becoming an increasingly bigger part of public relations work and I found the tips from this article to be helpful for companies just now entering the social media world.
Link to Article
Even though the article was written for individual Twitter use I found the tips could easily be applied to a PR department trying to create a presence in the social media world. I thought the first suggestion under the "Connecting" section would be a piece of advice that PR people should strongly consider when developing a Twitter and trying to connect with people in their target markets. If a PR department or agency is able to connect with influential users in audience they are trying to reach, those people are more likely to pay attention to the messages a particular company is putting out and pass it along to others - much like we discussed in class.
Engaging with a company's publics is one of the most important aspects of social media for PR people to focus on. I think all the advice given in the article can apply to companies trying to develop social media. Tweeting more non-self serving tweets will show people that your company is concise of what other people are doing and willing to give praise where praise is deserved. I think doing these types of things will help build a positive image for your company and will attract more people to following your twitter.
The main thing for PR people to be conscious of when developing a Twitter and engaging with people via Twitter is to purposely engage and participate in relevant chats. No one wants their Twitter feed to be blown up with irrelevant and pointless tweets. The purpose of a company having a Twitter is to have an easier and faster way to engage and communicate with their target publics. That being said, the last thing a PR person wants to happen is to lose the loyalty of the publics because the company's social media messages are pointless or put out so often that they become annoying.
Twitter is a great social media tool for companies to connect and communicate more freely with their target markets, but if not used correctly it can backfire and push potential clients further away from the company. Developing a social media presence for companies is becoming an increasingly bigger part of public relations work and I found the tips from this article to be helpful for companies just now entering the social media world.
Link to Article
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)