You would think that we would be past the fear of negativity in the social space, but we are still hearing of brands and companies that are concerned with the possibilities of people speaking negative about them on social media platforms. It usually is a huge eye opener when they see that people are already talking.

img courtesy sxc

Accept that Negative Comments will Happen
The first thing to accept is that negative conversation will happen. In a sterile world no one would every speak badly of any individual or company, but in the real world people gravitate to negativity. Accepting that your company or brand will not be exempt is the first step in handling potential negative comments from your consumers.

Have a Plan in Place
While you can’t control when negative comments will happen, you can have a plan in place to deal with them when they do. Usually, the larger you are as a consumer brand, the more prone you are to be called out. That being said, if you’re a small brand you are not exempt from negative comments either. The first step is to create an escalation plan, like the United States Air Force has provided for their social media managers. This plan will put you further down the road versus having nothing in place at all.

Make sure you know who’s going to respond, how you’re going to respond, as well as the course of action that you’ll take if there is more than one occurrence by the same individual. Your customized escalation plan will make it easier for the social media manager, as well as ease the worries of those that work in compliance.

Respond Quickly
The worst thing you could do is not respond. The longer you avoid it the greater the chances of the fire burning out of control. Make sure you include in your plan a respond strategy regarding timing. You’ll be glad you did, not to mention your customers would appreciate and respect a timely response.

When you accept the inevitable and have a plan in place, embracing negativity will no longer be a fear factor, but just another part of your communication strategy.

If you’re considering implementing social media as part of your marketing portfolio don’t let the fear of negativity keep you from endless opportunities.

Since the core of what we do at Doe-Anderson is building relationships between consumers and brands, we thought it would be cool to use relationships as a theme. So in honor of Valentine’s Day, all this month we’ll be sharing 28 Days to Make People Fall in Love with Your Brand. We hope you enjoy it.

Until you have their number, you don’t have anything.

Do you remember when you were looking for a potential partner to date that you really weren’t going anywhere until you got their number. If you could get their number, you immediately increased your opportunity for future interaction and a potential relationship.

Why Don’t You Do it Online?

What does everyone have that gives you an opportunity to influence directly? An email address.

Every website and blog should have a strategy to build an email database and provide exclusive content to that list of subscribers. If individuals are already visiting your site give them another opportunity to receive communication from you. By opting into your list, they are informing you that they want that communication and are open to the content, product and services that you provide.

By participating in email marketing you:
1. Increase the opportunity for conversions
2. Generate return customers
3. Provide the platform to up-sell and cross-sell
4. Receive feedback from your subscribers

Building an email database can be one of your most valuable resources. Having a strategy to drive traffic to your site is great. Having a clear call to action that builds your email database, converts eyeballs to potential customers.

Since the core of what we do at Doe-Anderson is building relationships between consumers and brands, we thought it would be cool to use relationships as a theme. So in honor of Valentine’s Day, all this month we’ll be sharing 28 Days to Make People Fall in Love with Your Brand. We hope you enjoy it.

Do you remember when your first felt feelings for someone? You counted everything! You could recall phone conversations, how long you talked, and how many times they looked at you. You could quantify everything!

In social media counting everything is just as important.

As the shiny object syndrome begins to wear off, clients are demanding that their efforts in the social space is measured in a meaningful way. No longer is it just about, “joining the conversation” clients want to see tangle results. Most marketers expect the same type of measurement standards as they do with traditional media.

The more you’re able to provide data, the more comfortable the brand and CMO’s will be embracing the effectiveness of social media.

If your goals are clear and your social activity is built upon those goals, then you’ll be able to provide right data.

This data at the very least should include:
1. Friends
2. Followers
3. Mentions
4. Conversations
5. Content shared by friends and followers
6. Content distributed
7. Traffic
8. Pageviews

Depending on the goals, you may also need to measure conversations that led to to leads and sales.

If you’re wanting to integrate social media into your overall marketing strategy, make sure you don’t just settle for owning the tools. Make sure that at the end of the day you can measure your rate of success.

Since the core of what we do at Doe-Anderson is building relationships between consumers and brands, we thought it would be cool to use relationships as a theme. So in honor of Valentine’s Day, all this month we’ll be sharing 28 Days to Make People Fall in Love with Your Brand. We hope you enjoy it.

Desperate times can cause you to do desperate things. However, just because you’ve been given someone’s email address or mobile number doesn’t mean you’ve been given permission to fill their inboxes with spam.

There’s a fine line between providing useful content and being labeled a spammer. Whether your managing a CRM program or your executing an email or SMS campaign, strategic insight into your consumer base is vital.

The strategy is knowing how much content to send, and how often it should be sent. The challenge is knowing that if you don’t communicate enough you could lose your place of influence with the consumer. There also is the challenge that if you send to much communication you lose your voice and become just another noisy spammer.

Once you have lost your place of influence it won’t be long until the consumer will unsubscribe from your content.

I can’t count how many CRM programs and email newsletters I’ve unsubscribed to because the sender’s strategy was quantity over quality. At the end of the day, the goal is for the consumer to follow your call to action.

Communication is an art. Consumers are real people and email addresses are gold.

Perhaps the next time you think your consumers need another “blast,” you should ask yourself, “what would I do with the content I’m sending?”