Much has been written about mortgage sales people needing to create a social media marketing strategy. It is a great way to get positive buzz about the services provided.
But like on those pesky chat boards on the Web, a negative message can do a lot of harm. And given the speed in which items get retransmitted in the social media, irreparable harm can come in mere hours.
Randall Craig, a consultant and author on how businesses use social media, notes many businesses are "woefully unprepared when something goes wrong."
There are five strategies companies could adopt, he said, to prevent a social media-related crisis.
The first is to anticipate there might be a problem and being prepared to address it with your clientele. "By announcing and addressing it beforehand, you appear more honest, pro-active and customer-focused.
Next is deciding whether or not to ignore the problem. Many companies are not aware of conversations going on. Craig said they need to put a monitoring process in place; when they are informed, they can make a conscious decision to ignore the negative messages or not. The rationale is simple, he added: why pour fuel on the fire. Sometimes the poster is looking to make your response as much of the story as the original issue.
No. 3 is deciding to engage and have a dialogue with the poster as well as the wider social media community. You can show reasonableness, compassion and understanding. Plus you might learn something that could be fed back to your service delivery process.
There is the option to fight, either through aggressive engagement of the poster, legal channels or by invoking the social media channel's terms of service rules. But once again, the fight could become the story. "This strategy should only be used once the troublemaker crosses a line, or other crisis techniques have proven unsatisfactory," said Craig.
Finally, you can reach out to your supporters and have them advocate on your behalf.
"You may not encounter a crisis this week, but the key is to be prepared well before the problem starts. It's more effective to have a crisis plan in place so that if it's needed, you'll be ready," he said.
