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.
