Okay, I suppose this is a great time to talk about the double-edge sword that is social media (a term I'm using to broadly define any kind of interaction between a "community" of web users - whether it is user generated content - like reviews or videos - threads, chat forums, blog response, tweets, Facebook chatter, whatever).
Social media is blowing up, again. Remember a year and half ago it was MySpace (which I believe if you listen closely enough, you can hear the tumbleweeds rolling through its pages), quickly followed by YouTube (which of course is still HUGE - and the moral crux of today's story) - and now its Facebook and Twitter.
And for those readers who are in my native land of Myrtle Beach, SC, TripAdvisor (still the number one Travel website in sheer volume of traffic) is BIG and another perfect example of this double-edge sword effect.
Okay to the point.
These websites, and the dozens of others out there (these are only the tip of the iceberg) are a great way to untraditionally reach your audience - past, present, and future. However, these same web sites are also a great way for your audience to reach you - or more accurately - affect you. Let's look at the latest PR debacle that is being coined in the headlines as "The attack of the nose cheese bandits".
The facts: Two dull-witted employees of an Ann Arbor-based Domino's made homemade videos of themselves "molesting" pizza ingredients, which they then reportedly baked and sent off for some poor family to consume. If you haven't seen the videos (and I won't link out to it because it's unfair to Domino's), you can only image why these two dullards are called the "nose cheese bandits".
This incident isn't really anything new, though it might be an extreme case. Right now, if you have any kind of brand at all in your market, there is a PR and customer relations battle going on right now. Some people are stating the facts of your business, some are stating falsehoods, some are praising you, and others are not. It's important that your organization use social media (even if you don't create an account and talk to the world) to READ what others are saying about you; to SEE where your brand pops up.
Let me go back to TripAdvisor, since I am in Myrtle Beach, SC, and much of the market here is travel and tourist related (HOTELS, MOTELS, HOLIDAY INNS - you get the idea). TripAdvisor's number one consumer draw are its hotel reviews. Travellers love to read reviews about places they are thinking about staying in - and a portion of those same travellers - like the world to know what THEY think about places they've stayed in. And most hotels and resorts have gotten at least a few bad reviews - which of course the managers and owners of said hotels and resorts hate to see.
So what do you do to protect your brand once Pandora has left the box? In the case of the Domino's incident, you keep a vigilant eye out on the socialsphere and SUPPRESS and SUE (defamation case anyone?). After all, Domino's had nothing to do with the actions of those employees (the US educational system did).
In the case of "bad reviews" whether you are a hotel, ebay powerseller, or proveyor of toasters - use your reviews as a Litmus test for how you should run your customer relations department. If you see dozens of bad reviews all saying the same thing (smelly hallways, unclean bathrooms, faculty equipment) you better respond by getting rid of that problem. And, if you see dozens of "good reviews" that all point out the same focus of joy (comfortable beds, excellent service, etc) you can drive those points home in your ad content because obviously those elements are what your customers truly care about.
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