GOP congresswoman gets surprise on Facebook after asking constituents for Obamacare horror stories
(Don't read the article yet, there is another link at the end of my post. Get political elsewhere please. Get social here!)
This is an example of why you need to know your audience when you use social media. Social media articles will tell you to have a consistent voice or "brand". This is very important so customers (or clients) will know what to expect from your company and how you are different from the rest.
The other side that business owners often forget:
no matter what you sell or do, your audience is made up of individuals.
They may have commonalities like location or demographics, but they are humans! The take-away here is that you should never assume you know your customer's opinion before they give it to you.
It doesn't matter if the congresswoman wrote this herself or had an employee do this on her behalf. The error is the same. (Hint: know that if you hire someone to handle social media for you, that they will represent your company in a professional manner! Don't hire your sister's friend's kid because they "love to Tweet". You are hiring someone to represent your business in a very public space!)
When you ask for feedback from the public, don't assume you know the answer! Be prepared to have a real discussion about your product or service.
When I worked for Facebook, I was assigned an ad agency client that was representing a property rental company for apartments & condos . (I am trying to use discretion about the companies involved, so please excuse the awkwardness of that sentence!)
They kept getting poor reviews but simply hiding every comment!
My solution was simple: ask questions and be prepared for the ugly truth. There was no downside to this because the people that hated that one apartment complex were already very vocal! Now the company's concern and attention to the problem was also public. It turned out that there were problems with the management at that one location. Ultimately, the ad agency was able to give their client real feedback so they could make the necessary personnel changes.
The point is to have real conversations on Facebook. Would you tell a potential customer your assumption of their opinion in real life? Would a cosmetics salesperson say "I know you think red lipstick is tacky - tell me more about how terrible it is"? Never! If you want the sale, (or vote) connect with people just like you would in real life!
Read the article here:
No comments:
Post a Comment