Fear and Social Media

For many years, brands were perfectly happy sending out messages to their customers, one way communication, via press, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail, email, all of it staying on message and projecting outwards.  PR was slightly different, there was a chance for newspapers and magazines to answer back but much of this was under control, as practitioners developed relationships with the editors and reporters and managed a relationship that worked for both parties – news and good press.

Now it’s different.  The customer has always been able to tell people what they think about a brand but now they can tell it to far more people using the distribution channel that is the web.  No more is the message confined to the handful of people that one met face-to-face, but with a blink of an eye the news can spread around the world.  Customers can also tell the brand exactly what they think of them, if they care to listen.   All of this is surely great for a brand or a product – direct customer research, all the time, from the people who are using it.  But one of the things that stops a company entering the conversation is fear, fear that can come in a few types.

• Fear of legal issues: A common fear and one firmly based in reality.   Every message usually sent out has usually gone through gauntlet of various types of lawyers, at least in the companies I’ve worked for, who look for issues in IP, trademarks, libel and other potential claims. The concern is even higher when dealing with regulated industries, such as finance, pharmaceuticals or alcohol. When using social media, via a blog, or commenting elsewhere, or sending out individual emails to people, having a legal oversight is just not possible; it slows everything down and can take the humanity out of conversations.   The answer here is to get the legal team on board early, to work with them to establish guidelines, understand touchpoints, when they may have to be involved just to check things.  Work out a set of sensible guidelines, which are often the same sort of rules that you apply to any employee if they are talking down the pub or blogging, and issues can be reduced.  If Wells Fargo, J&J and Guinness can all blog, given their industries, then there’s no reason why everyone else can’t.
• Fear of what customers say: For some reason, I have seen this fairly often – what if they say bad things about us?  What if they say bad things about others?  Surely knowing what they are saying, even i bad, is better than not knowing?  It gives you a chance to change things.  Research has shown that most commentary is positive, although the bad stuff can just seem louder.  Take the chance on your customers, listen to what they are saying and join in – you may be surprised.  On your blogs and sites, have a clear policy of what is and is not good behaviour.  Enforce the policy consistently.  Attacks on other people, bad language, discrimination are usually not desired, so create an environment where they are not tolerated.
• Fear of resources required:  Another real one, the resources to be active on the web and in communities that care about your brand can be quite large.  A conundrum I’ve seen often is that the resource issue can often be larger in large companies than small – large companies tend to split activities, drive efficiencies and never leave time for communicating directly with customers- that’s what they employ agencies for.  Smaller companies, with a tighter focus, often realise that this type of activity is worth the time it takes so make it part of the day job.  Once you realise the importance of such activities, make sure you ensure the employees have the time and the backing to do it.
• Fear of losing control:  One of the biggest areas, close to fear of what customers will say, is lack of control of the message, where it goes, how it is twisted and changed.   This is pointless – you have already lost control, the customers are already talking about you when, how and about what they want.  Live with it, embrace it, learn from it.

What are your fears? Why aren’t you playing and using social media?