People talk about the benefits social media brings to organizations. A recent study showed that consumers who are Facebook fans and Twitter followers of a brand not only recommend, but also buy the brands they tweet with or write wall comments to. Which means social media can trigger sales, among so many others.I personally do not contest the advantages of engaging into social media. However I think PR professionals and companies should think twice before writing a blog, creating Facebook pages and tweeting with clients. And I am not the only one of course – PR Blogger and others also covered the issue.
What are the reasons I invoke?
First, online exposure can also have side effects. An organization present online is prone to receive negative comments, not only positive and neutral ones.
Second, once companies are online people have certain expectations from them. If an organization accustoms its clients to announce sales on Twitter it will have to “keep its promises” and send tweets no matter what. Or if a company creates a blog with interesting materials posted every day, it has to keep providing such information daily.
Third, with online media it is so much easier to lose control over the message. Links, photos, videos and so on travel with light speed from computer to computer. If a company issues wrong information the chances to correct it in time (before it is widely spread) are low. How could one make sure the correct version gets to all the people who have received the bad one? In contrast, with offline media a company gets the chance to present correct versions of a story in the next morning’s newspaper.
Forth, a promise is a promise. If a company is on social media it has to be there 24/7. That is why a lot of resources are engaged when jumping into this vast communication pool.
The best thing to do before engaging into social media is to make a thorough analysis (why not even a SWOT one?) to see how appropriate the approach is for the company (also given the stakeholders) and to determine the compatibility of business objectives with social media.
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I agree that companies should be aware of both the good and the bad when establishing social media sites. The sites give customers the opportunity to air their views whether they are good or bad, and if they are bad they can have a poor affect on how future customers may perceive you. I have recently blogged about the situation that Nestle have got themselves into as a result of Facebook and the poor management of their blog and how the negativity on their page has become an open topic. Companies must ensure they are careful or, like Nestle, may find they have a PR nightmare on their hands.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, poor management of social media can lead to online crisis.
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