Facebook Status: My Boss Sucks!

The following is the Week 6 Response Post for Marist610 Social Media. 

Should employers be able to restrict their employees' use of social media? We've all seen it many times. An employee posts something on his Twitter page complaining about his boss or the company. A short time later, he is fired.

Just last Friday, a Yelp employee complained about her wages in a letter to her CEO that she posted online. She was fired a few hours later. Yelp, however, contends she was not fired because of the letter. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued some important decisions in recent years that helped clarify whether and how employers can restrict their employees' social media use.
   
Colleague Nicole Grosjean posed the question in her recent blog entry about whether her readers agreed with decisions made by the NLRB in 2012 that included rulings such as employers prohibiting employee rants and employers remaining entitled to enforce important workplace policies even in social media contexts. I agree with the NLRB ruling that when employees converse with each other about their workplace conditions, that they are engaging in protected concerted activity. Further, I agree that individual employee rants (when an employee posts inappropriate comments without engaging in conversation with other employees), are not protected.   

lizerbramlaw.com

However, I believe many employers today still either unaware of that distinction, or they are simply in fear because the lines are too blurred. For example, an employee posts what looks like an "individual employee rant" on his Facebook page. But, the next day, his work colleague "likes" his post. Is this now considered engaging in protected concerted activity?

Over the past several years, employers have been warned that discipline of social media rants by their employees is risky due to the NLRB's position on protected concerted activity. I can see why.

Here's a video from Labor Relations Update that discusses and attempts to explain some recent NLRB rulings:

In her post this week, Grosjean also asked us to choose a guideline outlined by either Microsoft, from its 11 tips for social networking safety, or McAfee, from its 15 social media security tips, that we follow well, and one where we need work.

I believe I follow tip 6 from Microsoft which suggests people be selective about who they accept as friends on social media networks. I believe I've become pretty savvy at identifying scammers and identity thieves. I've seen my share of pretty people in stock photos asking me to be their friend. My adivce is to not be naive and simply automatically click "accept." Take some time to look over the profile. If they only have a few friends and/or little content, it's a red flag. If they use poor grammar, it's a red flag. Personally, I automatically delete anyone who I don't know. Sure, it's made for a few awkward moments like the time when I didn't recognize an old college friend, but he got over it.

orthodoxsunflower.wordpress.com

A tip that I don't follow well is McAfee's tip 8, understanding my privacy settings. I need to improve at selecting the most secure options and periodically checking for changes. There are many helpful articles available online including Social Media Examiner's How to Check Social Media Privacy Settings. Plus, I'm always seeing stories on the news, including on the Today Show's Rossen Reports on how to properly set social media privacy settings. I need to make this a top priority. Even Stay Safe Online lists privacy settings as its number one tip in a list of 13.

   
In closing, let me go back to the employee rant and offer a tip. If you're an employee who is angry about something at your work, the best advice is to cool down before logging into your social media accounts. Before you send your message, ask yourself: How will the other side view my comments? Or, ask a friend or trusted colleague to take a look and provide feedback. It's all about empathy. When we listen first, we see things through the other side's lens. It could save you your job. Or it could save you a lot of time in litigation.

        

Identify Your Target Audience and Focus on the Consumer

Identify Your Target Audience and Focus on the Consumer

Team 2 Discussion: #MaristSM16

Defining your target audience and devoting attention to buyers and away from products are important points made in the readings this week. Jannelle and I are serving as co-leaders this week so be sure to check both of our blogs.

Defining Your Target Audience with Social Media

Kerpen (2015) devotes most of chapter two to defining a target audience by utilizing social media. Have you ever logged into your Facebook account and wondered how some of the advertisements are eerily catered to your interests?  This is an example of hypertargeting, “where a company gears marketing and advertising efforts towards a specific group through individual social media accounts” (Kerpen, 2015, p 25). “On Facebook alone, you can advertise to target markets based on age, gender, education, marital status, interests and employer” (Kerpen, 2015, p. 25). Essentially, you can target people based on the content they provide in their profiles, posts, likes and comments.

                      

Using specifics to hone in on your target audience allows you to connect directly with your consumer (Kerpen, 2015, p. 25). For example, Facebook identifies millions of people who fit basic search criteria such as age, gender and location (Kerpen, 2015, p. 28). For more detailed searches, Kerpen suggests using these additional categories:

Interests

Any interest people list on their profile. Be specific and use keywords to narrow your search even further.

More Demographics

Allows you to search for job titles to market to decision makers for businesses.

Work

Inputting a work place searches for

people who identify them as an employer.

LinkedIn is great for searching for people based on job title, school, affiliations, industry and company size. Using a basic Twitter search identifies your target audience based on what they are saying, not demographics. Social media helps you find your target audience and provides you with free information (Kerpen, 2015, p. 34).

                      

Targeting is Just the Beginning: 

Once you identify your target audience, listen and begin the conversation. Consumers have a better tendency to engage when a message addresses an important and real issue. The more empowering, the more effective it will be. Proctor & Gamble has mastered the art of creating ads that strike an emotional chord with its target audience. In the Thank You Mom commercial during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, P&G integrated social media platforms into the campaign using #ThankYouMom on Facebook & Twitter to spark conversations with P&G consumers.

Team 2:

Do you think P&G successfully identified

and engaged its target audience with #ThankYouMom?

The Buyer Persona Profile

Scott (2015) devotes most of chapter 10 to the buyer persona profile. Kerpen (2015) titled his chapter three, “Think – and Act – Like Your Consumer.” Typically, most websites are one-size-fits-all. Many companies’ social media campaigns are similar. Website content is organized by the company’s products, not by categories matching buyer personas.

For example, the popular New England supermarket Big Y organizes its content by departments and locations.

What if it categorized content based on buyer persona – such as age, behavior, and dietary needs? Each product the store offers reaches certain buyer personas. While it may be difficult to achieve in the store, creating categories matching buyer persona would be effective on the web.

For example, a friend has a gluten allergy and must choose foods that are gluten free. Imagine if supermarket websites had a section on their website listing their foods that are gluten free. There’s no question that supermarket would be her favorite store. And ours, too.

Luckily, there is a website, called Gluten Free Mall, that does market directly to that specific persona.

Social media works the same way. Our friend doesn’t search for “great supermarkets” on Google, nor does she post about them on social media. She does, however, search for “gluten free foods” and posts about them on her social media channels. 

Scott (2015) points out that many marketers and PR professionals focus on the wrong (and often irrelevant) measures of success, such as numbers of press releases and website hits. He associates this lack of clear goals with seven-year-olds playing soccer. The whole pack chases after the ball. “We fill our lists with balls and lose sight of the goal,” Scott noted (p. 163). And, he added, what’s even worse is that PR management teams actually encourage us to go after the balls.

Successful online marketing efforts will work if the buyer persona is a part of the strategic planning process. Scott created a planning template that may be helpful in getting started with creating strategic buyer personas. He created the template to help people implement strategies for reaching buyers directly (Scott, 2015, p. 182).

Another critical point that both authors of this week’s readings make is to quickly respond to comments on social media. Responding in real time keeps the customer up to date and shows the world that you are engaged. Not responding quickly is a missed opportunity. Unfortunately, company leaders often urge PR professionals to not respond to posts, especially negative ones. There are many examples of what happens when companies don’t listen correctly and respond to their customers’ social conversations.

If we have established buyer personas, we understand our customers and therefore, are better equipped to respond to them immediately. We now understand how to speak their language and what their real words are and the phrases they use.

As the experts and the ones responsible for PR and marketing, it is critical that we stay on top of the latest changes and best practices and that we update and educate our company's leaders on these new opportunities.

Team 2:

Expanding on Scott's example of leaders still using old rules of PR, write about one rule by leaders in your workplace that you believe is ill-advised in this new world of social media marketing. How would you go about explaining to leaders why a new approach is critical?

References:

Borison, R. (2014, December 10). The Top 10 Social Media Fails of 2014. Retrieved February

08, 2016, from http://www.inc.com/rebecca-borison/top-10-social-media-fails-2014.html

Kerpen, D. (2015). Likeable social media. (2nd ed.). United States: McGraw Hill Education.

Scott, D. M. (2015). The new rules of marketing and PR. (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

Social Media Transparency and Responding to Negative Posts

Week 3 Discussion Points for Comi610  #MaristSM16

Social Media Transparency

A marketing director at a small, private college is ordered by her president to not release a survey report on behavior and satisfaction perceptions of the College's students since the report found unfavorable results. A public relations coordinator at a local university is told to say "no comment" to the media about a controversial story. 

Unfortunately, these are all too familiar realities for many marketing and communications professionals in higher education, and other fields. In his book, Likable Social Media, Dave Kerpen (2015) noted that to build trust, transparency is no longer negotiable. Not only is it ethical, it also builds a direct relationship between a company and its customers (p. 117). 

This stands out to me as one of the most important rules of social media. I was often one of those folks put in similar situations as the examples above. Today, the communications professional must make the case to leaders on the need for honesty and transparency. Customers expect it. Period.  

Social media dynamics have forced organizations to explore how openly they communicate with their audiences. And, that's a good thing. Customers demand open access to relevant content and the ability to actively participate in discussions about organizations or companies and their products.  

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) lists honesty as the second priority, behind only advocacy, in its Statement of Professional Values (PRSA, n.d.). Any communication from a company must be honest and accurate. As Kerpen (2015) noted, if one applies the golden rule, customers will fall in love you (p. 124). A little honest and transparency will speak volumes toward building trust. 

Responding to Negative Posts

“Why did we create a Facebook page anyway?” Leaders and CEOs often question why their companies delved into social media in the first place. Negative comments and posts on social media can cause frustration and regrets. However, the proper handling of complaints can actually help a business.   

Kerpen (2015) noted that complainers might actually be turned into supporters if responses are efficient and effective. A customer might be so impressed and pleased that the company cared enough to respond that he recommends it to his peers (p. 85).

Many companies have become proficient at listening (not monitoring) to their customers on have plans to respond quickly to negative comments on social media channels.

A few years ago, I found myself in a long checkout line at my local Walgreen’s. In a hurry, I became frustrated that there was only one cashier working at a register while there were several other employees visible throughout the store. I took a picture of the line and posted the following to my Twitter account:

Within a few hours, I received a response to my post from a Walgreen's representative:

The representative, Belinda, did what many experts, including Kerpen (2015), suggest - to respond quickly and publicly and then take the issue private (p. 82). By responding quickly and privately, Belinda not only responded to my complaint, but the world saw her response as well - that Walgreen's is a company that listens to its customers and fixes problems swiftly.

Kerpen, D. (2015). Likeable social media. (2nd ed.). United States: McGraw Hill Education.

Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Member Code of Ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved February 02, 2016, from https://www.prsa.org/aboutprsa/ethics/codeenglish/#.VrEVwksSosE

Scott, D. M. (2015). The new rules of marketing and PR. (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.