How to react if somebody writes about your brand online
For our first post of the new year, I wanted to touch on two questions that often crop up when we talk to clients about their online presence and how they are and could use social media:
- “If somebody talks about us online, should we respond?”
- “If we respond, what is the best way of doing this?”
This can be a difficult set of questions for brands to answer. If they engage they fear they may open the metaphorical floodgates and end up having to find and then respond to every mention of their brand online. If they don’t engage they fear that they are losing control of the brand. Our approach has typically been to discuss a set of real-life scenarios with them from blogs, social networks and online communities, and then establish when and where it is appropriate to engage as part of their social media strategy – what do they hope to achieve from engaging and so how should they do this.
Of course, this still leaves a lot of unanswered questions about how to act in specific circumstances and what we’ve really wanted is to have a crib sheet for these brands. And it seems that we might now have just that, courtesy of what might at first seem an unlikely source: the US Air Force.
I really like this approach, for four reasons:
- It recognises that it is not always appropriate to “join the conversation”. Just as you wouldn’t unnecessarily go over and join a conversation about your brand you might hear in a restaurant, it’s not always appropriate online. Assess when you should and shouldn’t talk and then so it in an appropriate way.
- It emphasise the importance of honesty online. The first instruction when you respond online is to identify who you are and where you’re from. This is really important online.
- It lets you differentiate between different types of negative posts. Not all negativity is the same and sometimes it doesn’t make sense to respond and sometimes it does.
- It’s easy to remember and follow. Any process needs to fulfill all your needs but be simple. This has the beauty of simplicity.
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Some more reading
- Brands can learn a lot from the US Air Force
- Friends are not the same as influence
- The best of social media over the holiday season
- Consumers are Increasingly Looking to Social Networks for Advice
- Why Social Works Part IV: Final Notes and Future Directions
Bryan Person:
Matt:
This is a brilliant flow chart from the Air Force. It’s a good reminder that online engagement isn’t always the right option, as you also point out. Sometimes, just watching/listening is really what’s needed. But, having assessment criteria for when to respond makes that decision easier, and that’s just what the Air Force has come up with.
Bryan | @BryanPerson
5 January 2009, 4:12 amLiveWorld
social-media.social-bookmark.me:
Comment réagir si quelqu’un prend la parole sur votre marque…
Quelle attitude adopter lorsque votre marque est critiquée sur internet? Freshnetwork blog dresse les différentes hypothèses….
6 January 2009, 2:06 amCaddell Insight Group » Blog Archive » Stop reacting, and start listening, to online customer feedback:
[...] generally like this post from Matt Rhodes, my fellow Futurelabber (”How to react if somebody writes about your brand online“), but I have a bone to pick with the [...]
6 January 2009, 7:30 amJoe Mann:
Matt,
Thanks for the great post. The air force chart will be a huge help in talking this stuff through with clients.
Joe | @josephmann
6 January 2009, 3:35 pmHow to response in social media « Simon Harrow:
[...] Click here for the article on Freshnetworks and don’t forget to comment, shout out and share. [...]
7 January 2009, 2:33 pmSimon Harrow:
This is an excellent post – a very good and thought out tool.
7 January 2009, 2:35 pmBijgespijkerd » Bookmarks week 2:
[...] FreshNetworks Blog » Blog Archive » How to react if somebody writes about your brand online [...]
9 January 2009, 7:27 pmХозяйке на заметку: как реагировать, если о вас пишут. | PRweb. Блог о public relations в интернете:
[...] реагировать, если о вашем бренде пишут в онлайне”. Оригинал опубликован в блоге британской компании [...]
8 February 2009, 7:01 pmFreshNetworks Blog » Blog Archive » Keep up-to-date with the best in online communities blogging:
[...] focusing on how we build and manage online communities (rather than technology), the protocol for how to react when somebody talks about your brand online, or the ways your online community can work offline too. There’s a lot of great debate out [...]
17 February 2009, 11:31 pmThe top 10 conversations to listen for in social media | FreshNetworks Blog:
[...] looked before at how to react if somebody writes about your brand online. Today’s Required Reading at FreshNetworks looks not at how to respond but the types of [...]
2 May 2009, 8:13 pmThomson Holidays – how a blogger can impact your brand reputation | FreshNetworks Blog:
[...] what should brands do in this instance. Earlier this year we wrote about how to react if somebody writes about your brand online and included a great process diagram developed by the US Air Force. The process is simple and [...]
21 September 2009, 2:40 pmComplaints no longer a Customer Service Issue but a Reputation Issue « Deon Binneman on Reputation:
[...] about the subject, which includes a great process diagram developed by the US Air Force – http://www.freshnetworks.com/blog/2009/01/how-to-react-if-somebody-writes-about-your-brand-online/ that might help [...]
23 September 2009, 7:18 amSocial media as a crisis management tool | FreshNetworks Blog:
[...] things are good and to tell you where things are bad. To complain. We’ve written before about how to react if somebody complains about your brand online. The brand should reply when a factual inaccuracy is being discussed, or when a customer has had a [...]
21 December 2009, 9:30 am22-Dec-2009 | MohanArun.com:
[...] How to react if somebody writes about your brand online – Link. [...]
22 December 2009, 12:09 pmngupingers:
maybe it’s good idea
22 December 2009, 11:42 pm