How To Avoid a Social Media Disaster (via Mashable)

I was writing about my terrible ordeal with the telemarketer for the iStrategy2010 conference (on Social Media, no less) [Part 1, Part 2, Part 3] when I stumbled upon this helpful article via Mashable: How to respond when Social Media attacks your brand?. Of course, prevention is much better than cure… so here’s another helpful article via Mashable: How to avoid a social media disaster. (I really love Mashable!)

For the PR and Communications professional, the impact of a crisis has been exponentially exacerbated by the power of social media. As I’ve said before, this is due to the powerful fact that social media is essentially a network, with implicit assumptions of trust and credibility (by network members), and a built-in capacity for rapid dissemination of news.

Now, anyone and everyone can now vent their dissatisfaction about your brand and, I assure you, they will have their own like-minded audiences (friends, relatives, total strangers) who are similarly equipped and empowered. If unmanaged, you will have an echo-chamber of negativity that will get out of hand.

Even so, any practitioner will understand that one can never fully “control” what customers and audiences say about one’s brand – especially on social media platforms. Most would also agree that it’s not something you want to do, since social media is essentially a social medium – i.e. you don’t own it, the community does. It’s exactly because of this freedom to comment, to voice opinions and to generally share information that results in the kind of customers you want – those who are engaged with your brand! These customers end up being that desired loyal fan base that spreads the word about your brand to their friends and family.

Still, there are a few steps that you can take to prevent or circumvent a negative PR crisis about your brand on social media networks online. Here’s what the Mashable article recommends:

How to respond when Social Media attacks your brand? (via Mashable)

Just as I was writing about my terrible ordeal with the telemarketer for the iStrategy2010 conference (on Social Media, no less) [Part 1, Part 2, Part 3], I stumbled upon this helpful article via Mashable: How to respond when Social Media attacks your brand?

It’s a great article with real case studies of how three brands were attacked via Social Media and what they did to respond. Here are my key takeaways:

1. Stop the attack before it escalates. It’s very easy to jump on to the “bashing bandwagon.” You must realise that social media is essentially a network, with implicit assumptions of trust and credibility (by network members), and a built-in capacity for rapid dissemination of news. Think of what that means when people start bashing your brand.
2. Listen to your customer. Social media is social. You’re in a dialogue/discussion now. Gone are the days of monologues or one-way conversations. These days, the customer has the tools that empower them to be heard… so start listening for real!
3. Have a plan. Crisis communications and issues management is no longer just about managing print and broadcast media. Now, anyone and everyone with Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn can spread the news. Make sure you have a plan that takes that into consideration.
4. Monitor social media. Set up some capability to monitor social media channels. You’ll want to know what’s being said about you and where so that you can respond quickly.
5. Engage! As I said, social media is social! To earn the right to be heard (and therefore respond to allegations), you must participate in the conversation!

4 Tips To Writing SEO-Friendly Blog Posts (via Mashable)

When you write blog posts, it’s not just about writing for human readers – you also have to consider how search engines seek out relevant results based on the key words you use in your blog post. Since most would-be readers use search engines to find blog posts, you need to make sure that Google ranks your site highly when those readers search for terms related to your business and the content you’re writing.

Here are four tips on how to write SEO-friendly blog posts courtesy of Mashable:

The Anatomy Of A Brilliant Idea Going Viral

Currently trending on Mashable is an interview article on How Coca-Cola Created Its “Happiness Machine” where Global Senior Brand Manager for Coca-Cola, AJ Brustein, Definition 6 Director of Interactive Strategy, Paul McClay and Definition 6 Creative Director Paul Iannacchino talk through the making of Coke’s “Happiness Machine.”

It offers great insights into the anatomy of how a brilliant idea can go viral. I especially enjoyed the various practical tips interspersed throughout the article:

How To Measure Social Media ROI (via Mashable)

Following from my previous post, here is another great article via Mashable on how to go about measuring Social Media ROI. Enough Social Media BS!!!

Have Facebook And Twitter Stopped Growing?

Here’s a very interesting piece of news via Mashable – STATS: Facebook and Twitter’s Growth Flattens.

I was thinking about the implications of what this meant and, truth be told, I came up with nothing. To me, it was yet another method, another medium, another tool reaching saturation point. And so, the market will move on to the next new thing – as it always has and always will.

Where does that leave brands and marketers?

Well, with the classics: Product, Price, Placement, Promotion.

Start with a great product – your Purple Cow, Social Object/Blue Monster/Cube Grenade

Give it to your customers/consumers/audiences at a price where they find “value” – whether that means free, cheap or premium

Place it somewhere that’s conveniently accessible – even if that means the good ol’ brick-and-mortar storefront!

And, finally, promote it by having a great way to share its story with others.

That’s marketing – regardless of whatever “next big thing” we’re looking at.

STATS: Facebook and Twitter’s Growth Flattens