Archive for the ‘Social’ post category
There are more than a few ways that social media marketing can go wrong for a company. Nikon found that out last year when they proclaimed on Facebook that a photographer is only as good as the equipment he/she uses. Something that professional photographers who spent years learning the craft and refining their skills obviously took issue with.
Today it’s McDonald’s that is feeling the burn of a social media effort that took a wrong turn. And although in this case there was really nothing wrong with the Twitter marketing effort they chose, this case should serve as an example of how efforts to change the image of a controversial product through social channels can spin out of control quickly.
McDonald’s launched a promotional Twitter hashtag campaign to promote their efforts to guarantee fresh produce in their products. They launched a series of tweets with the hashtag #MeetTheFarmers, and followed that up with a more general hashtag #McDStories prompting customers to tell their own stories of good experiences with McDonald’s food. As reported by the Daily Mail, Critics of the company and their food products grabbed the opportunity to use the more general hashtag to publicly tell their horror stories about the fast food chain, though, and within hours the campaign had turned ugly. Unhappy customers used the #McDStories hashtag to share stories about everything from a fingernail being found in a Big Mac to a food poisoning related hospitalization, and of course the common criticism about McDonald’s food being unhealthy.
I wouldn’t say that McDonald’s really did anything wrong, and from their perspective this was a great opportunity to open up a dialogue about their fresh produce and hopefully change some opinions about the quality of their food. THe lesson learned here should be that a company needs to be willing to acknowledge that their products are controversial and understand that in a global social environment there will be many detractors who will take advantage of the opportunity to share a negative experience. More so than for a company that deals in products that are not controversial. McDonald’s is trying to change their public image and show us that they are trying to improve the quality and nutritional value of their food. But short of shifting their menu entirely to salads and veggie wraps and fruit smoothies and abandoning the Big Mac, the company will always have to contend with a large audience of critics.
This isn’t to say that a fast food company can’t use social media at all, just that they need to tread lightly. Very specific, targeted, timely social media efforts can afford them more control over the topics being discussed, and potentially avoid another widespread hashtag hijacking.
Photo by Sandro Menzel.
We know that it’s not enough to simply show up to the social media party. Success in social media is found, in part, through conversations. You engage in conversations with your customers, clients, and prospects, to allow them to get to know you and your product/service better and be more likely to purchase that product or service thanks to the social conversation they participated in.
These conversations don’t always result in a sale or a signed contract. And in some cases, the intended conversation can turn into an angry mod scene very quickly. Nikon, the famed camera equipment manufacturer, learned this the hard way. On September 28th, the following message appeared on the Nikon Facebook page:
So, according to Nikon, talent is meaningless in photography, and really it’s all about the gear you use. Ouch.
Obviously this didn’t sit well with many photographers, including many professionals who make their living off of their photographic skill and talent and happen to do it with a Nikon camera in their hands. About 3,500 comments appeared under that post over a 24 hour period, most expressing disappointment with Nikon for making such a foolish and offensive statement. Some even suggested that equipment from Nikon’s primary competitor Canon all of a sudden looked a lot more appealing.
Nikon did later issue an apology, although the angry comments continued to pour in afterwards. With just a few lines of text on a Facebook page, Nikon’s social media effort went from “good” to “holly… that’s bad.”
My guess is that this incendiary post came from someone in the company who is not a photographer and had no idea how insensitive the post was. The popular running joke in the photo world has always been the one about the person who admires an image and says to the photographer something like, “Wow, this is a great picture, you must have a really nice camera.” It’s hard to believe that anyone who has spent any amount of time around photographers would dare to make such a blatantly offensive statement to a group that includes a large number of professionals.
The lesson to be learned here is that it’s easy for the conversation in social media to turn ugly, if you let an uninformed person do the talking for your company. It is a challenge, for sure, to remain active in the social networks on a daily basis with thoughtful posts, engaging discussions, and positive commentary, but it has to be done and it needs to be handled by someone within your company that understands the product, the brand position, and most importantly, the people you are talking to.
Nikon D90 photo by raneko
About 10 years ago, the rule of thumb on the Internet was to keep your personal info close mostly under wraps. This was more of a general privacy concern, but in professional networking this was also sort of a rule of thumb to make your professional online presence appear to be truly professional. Showing any signs of a personality online was largely avoided, and personal details were usually limited to your name and basic contact info. In 2003, with the launch of MySpace, concerns about online privacy began to erode and in general people began to be more willing to share personal information online. A few years later, we let our guards down completely and with the growing popularity of Facebook came an all new openness to sharing things from our personal lives with friends and family in an online setting.
Social media changed our perceptions about sharing information, photos, even day -to-day details about what we’re doing, where we are going, and who we are with. The one thing that seems to have lingered from those early days of restraint are our fears about sharing too much from our personal lives with our professional contacts. While we’ve certainly gotten more comfortable with giving people from our personal lives a glimpse into our daily activities, we tend to stay cautious about giving the same freedom to professional contacts. And for good reason in some cases. If your typical weekend is a 48-hour whirlwind tour of local bars and clubs, that might be something that would be fine to share with friends, but maybe not so much with an employer or client.
As it relates to your personal brand, though, being overly cautious with your professional contacts might be keeping you from taking advantage of social media as a means of fostering relationships with potential clients and customers.
The whole goal of networking, both online and offline, is to build relationships. Getting close to people and letting them in to your world builds trust, which in turn makes someone more likely to do business with you. All that chit chat, conversations about the wife, husband, kids, dog, latest vacation, etc., we’re compelled to share those details of our lives in face-to-face settings, and yet when it comes to online interactions, we tend to restrict those details to friends and family.
The challenge I’d like to present is this: Be willing to get a little more personal with your professional contacts online. Restraint isn’t a bad thing, and share sparingly. Your newborn may be cute, and while your friends might be fine with seeing lots of photos of the little guy, those daily photo posts might not be so well received by your professional network. But do feel free to share the occasional family photo on a blog that you know your professional contacts will read, or tweet about that great trip to Maui from your work twitter account. Let your business contacts know a bit more about who you are outside of the office, and do so in an online social setting rather than an offline one.
As much as we’d all like to believe that the most qualified person always gets the job, the reality is that people tend to work with people they like. It is not enough to just be good at what you do. Relationships count significantly when it comes to landing new jobs, new clients, and new customers.
The goal of sharing that sort of info offline was to build better relationships with people you’d like to do business with, and that goal remains the same online. Being completely impersonal with your online contacts could prevent you from fostering the sort of relationships that can develop into clients and customers.
Social media is digital. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, these are web technologies and we interact with them in the online world. As social media continues to cross over into more areas of our culture, it’s no surprise that we are finding ourselves surrounded by more and more indications that online social media and our regular offline lives are becoming increasingly intertwined. Case in point, products that blur the line between our online social interactions and our offline activities. Here are a few new social media products that you can use to keep the social channels open when you’re status is set to “Away.”
Favicards
Favicards are social networking business cards. These 2-inch square cards with rounded corners look like common social network icons found on many websites and feature your Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Myspace, iTunes, or Flickr info. Choose your preferred social site logo for the front of the card and add your custom info to the back, or order completely customized cards with your own designs.
100 Favicards go for $19 at Jakprints. Completely custom cards start at $49.
Facebook “Like” stickers
Carry a few of these around to “Like” the things in your offline world. Just be careful with how you use them. I doubt your local coffee shop will appreciate too many “Likes” glued to their front door.
$3.99 gets you 10 “Like” or “Dislike” stickers from 55 Hi’s.
“Follow Me” Twitter Handle and Hashtag Necklace
Twitter users won’t have to ask how to follow you online if you’re wearing this necklace. The 1″ sterling silver disc is customized with every order with your Twitter username on it.
Made by PunkyJane via Etsy for $37.
Twitter Coffee Mug
Maybe jewelry isn’t your thing. If you’re not a necklace person, you can show off your Twitter username on your morning cup of coffee or tea with this customized mug. The handmade cup from Mug Revolution comes in a variety of sizes and colors and features the famous Twitter bird on the handle.
Mugs range from $22 to $24 depending on size and can be purchased directly from Mug Revolution.
Facebook Wedding Print
Meeting your soulmate online is common these days, and Facebook is one of the many ways in which potential couples can connect for the first time. If you end up tying the knot with someone you met on Facebook and want to commemorate the occasion, you can order a customized print to frame and display in your home.
The custom prints can be ordered from sthblue via Etsy for $38.
Twitter “Stalkings” Socks
These “stalkings” feature the Twitter bird and familiar “Follow Me” tagline, inviting people to ask for your Twitter name or possibly actually follow you around in an uncomfortable way. In any case, for those brave enough to wear them these nylons let the world know that you can be found tweeting when you’re not out in the real world.
Available from post via Etsy, Twitter “Stalkings” cost $23.
Tweetbookz
Once you have a long enough history with Twitter, you may want to archive your online activity in an offline medium. Tweetbookz allows you to compile your tweets into a professionally printed book.
A hardcover book will cost you $24.99 and a softcover book goes for $14.99. Available directly from Tweetbookz.
