| CHRISTI HEINSOHN | “What's the right marketing plan for your product lines to reach maximum profit margins?” | |
| brand • promote • prevail | SM | |
Sidewiki
and the Impending Social Media Crisis
Sunday, October 25, 2009
I can't recall witnessing more hype over anything in my lifetime than Social Media. Contemporary consensus is that Social Media will change Marketing and Advertising forever.
And then Google announced its now launched Sidewiki, which will allow anyone using Google Toolbar to leave comments on any webpage on the net. I've been discussing this on my feed since that announcement was made, as have others. And I'm not the only one to conclude that is a disasterous development for the marketing profession as well as for businesses' health.
My initial response was that Sidewiki will result in marketers getting a rigorous crisis communications workout regularly in social media. This is inevitable according to the nature of Sidewiki as current info indicates. But will it be manageable, even by veteran old school marketers well-versed in crisis communications? No. It won't. Because no matter how good crisis communications management methods can possibly be, it is not feasible to spin a damage control strategy for every inattentive, ill-informed crack-pot comment on a product, customer service, political or social issue. There's not enough time in the day!
What will we do if not petition to stop Sidewiki?
Some tiny but real-life cases in point:
1. Say you tweet something about the President negotiating for the release of 2 female journalists captured and held hostage in North Korea, while their dictator makes threats against the U.S. Someone blogs that you're stupid for not knowing we've had troops stationed there for 20 years. Which has nothing to do with the fact that the journalists were in fact captured, are still held hostage, and the nuke-bearing government is on TV threatening the U.S. in response to the idea of negotiations.
Any counter-response would sound like Dr. Suess without the rhyme. And you'd look even dumber than he already made you look. Correct him and you look like a knee-jerking hot-head and open up an undesirable argument with someone who wants to argue and make you look stupid and will probably never admit that you're right.
Best Solution: Ignore the confused remark completely and show some class.
2. Expert in your field expresses offense at an industry related comment you've made - you don't know why. You need to respond as his comment will be credible to some degree. But it's just one person and you don't know how to correct it.
Best Solution: Ask him what you could have done better and correct your mistake publicly in one sincere respectful apology.
So far, not too deep into crisis communications. But what if a supposed customer, or worse - a disgruntled customer - starts a firestorm of negative dialog about your business on your site? How will you know if it's a bored kid or a real customer? How will you know the facts of the problem in question? How will you contact the blogger to find out?
A. You can spin a generic contact me directly and I will personally do everything in my power to resolve the issue to your satisfaction. But you'll never know if anyone who calls is really one of the malicious bloggers.
B. You can spin a generic we provide only the highest quality products and service and guarantee your complete satisfaction. Which will sound canned and insincere no matter how you word it.
C. Develop an extensive time-consuming campaign to prove you stand behind your products and customer satisfaction. And jump through hoops racking up personnel hours everytime somebody yanks your chain.
Best Solution: A. Hire only the best customer service professionals and make it your priority to provide exemplary service to all your customers (who can prove they have a valid issue), hope that they leave positive comments, and pray the malicious bloggers don't cost you too much business.
So, is Social Media a necessary part of a small to mid-sized business' marketing plan? No. But same as for major retailers, customer service is.
Is Social Media more effective than traditional media? Not until we're all bar-coded and scanned before we logon to largely unregulatable cyberspace. Because the net will always lack the credibility that other media has earned and long been held accountable for.
Christi Heinsohn
Comments welcome on Facebook.
Sidewiki and the Impending Social Media Crisis
Methodic Team Management
OK, I'm In Love with Ronald McDonald
International Day of Climate Action
Ignite Your Business Growth in 2009
How to Hire Top Sales Talent
Are You Cheating Your Brand?
Traditional Media PR and Advertising Integration
Managing Employee Rumors
| © Christi Heinsohn 2009 |
| Wish you'd thought of it? How about something that showcases your unique identity and competitive advantage? I can do an original just as good for you, but customized for your best marketing interests. |