Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Using Social Media Marketing to Manage Publicity

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Using Social Media Marketing to Manage Publicity

While social media can be an excellent marketing tool for any business, it also carries with it several caveats. For instance, while social media marketing can get new customers to your business, it can also drive them away if any negative feedback is posted on a public forum. Therefore, managing publicity using social media is a critical part of a Webmaster's job. While bad publicity is typically unavoidable, there are thing that can be done to control the repercussions of these comments.

Avoid Negative Impressions

First and foremost, it is important for companies engaged with social media to avoid negative impressions to the best of their ability. In terms of social media marketing, this means use of social networking sites and online forums appropriately. That is, they should not be used to barrage potential consumers with sales rhetoric, but instead should serve an interactive function, giving web users discounts and information while also allowing them to interact with other customers, submit questions and comments, and browse photos at their leisure. The better the online experience, the more likely they'll leave positive feedback.

Respond Right Away to Customer Concerns

A great way to manage publicity with social media is to respond to problems right away. If a customer posts negative comments to a company's social media site wall, for example, a company representative needs to also post a response on the wall for all to see. This will allow other customers to see that the company is responding and is willing to answer questions and will handle problems in a prompt and efficient manner, which will help to balance out any negative impression that was gleaned from the customer feedback.

Address Consumers Head On

If the problem or issue is serious enough, companies should also contact the customer in question directly. Even if only done through e-mail, it adds a more personal touch to the response, and will make the customer know that his or her problem is being addressed with care and concern. This can be done in combination with an open response on the related social media site, or it can be a business's primary route for managing publicity using social media. In either case, the unhappy customer - and all other customers who see the negative comments - should be able to see that the problem is being solved.

Issue Press Releases or Announcements

Companies also have the option of issuing online announcements as a way of managing publicity with social media sharing sites. This can be done by way of a Facebook wall post, a Twitter post, a YouTube video, or a press release published on the business website. These releases can either emphasize the positive elements of a company, as a way of merely generating good publicity, or they can be responses to negative comments. Either way, the announcement should make clear that the satisfaction of the customer is very important to the business.

Hire a Social Media Representative

Many companies have customer service departments that address problems and complaints using phone or e-mail. But with social media marketing, however, it is usually a better idea to hire an individual or a team to be primarily responsible for controlling online publicity. These representatives can address all feedback posted on social media sharing sites, and will serve as an intermediary between the online customer and the business itself. Overall, this will help simplify the customer service process.

At the end of the day, the managing of publicity using social media marketing boils down to quickly and completely answering consumer problems and concerns. Even the more successful businesses will face frustrated customers every so often - it's just part of doing business. While the arrival of online social media will sometimes magnify this negative feedback, it also makes it possible to promptly address customer concerns and manage the generally recognized image of a business.


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