Social media makes it extremely easy for people to share information. This information can be in the form of opinions, ideas, complaints, specific needs and whatever a person is thinking at any given time. People are providing this information in blogs, tweets, videos and comments on online message boards, including employee activity. The mortgage industry is beginning to embrace social media as an additional business development and marketing strategy. While there are numerous benefits and opportunities for mortgage industry participants to engage in social media activity there are also some pitfalls if this activity is not monitored properly. As a business what are you doing to monitor this activity? Are you protecting your company’s good name and strong brand reputation?
Domino’s provides us an excellent example of how important it is to monitor this type of activity. Last week they had to respond to a video that was spreading quickly across the Internet. Unfortunately, it was for all the wrong reasons and very detrimental to their brand and good name. It was a video posted on YouTube showing a couple of employees doing vulgar things while preparing food for customers. More than a half of million people viewed that video last week alone.
“Nothing is local anymore, Domino’s spokesman Tim McIntyre says. That’s the challenge of the Web world. Any two idiots with a video camera and a dumb idea can damage the reputation of a 50-year-old brand.” [1]
With all of this technology now at everyone’s fingertips, it is critical to also develop innovative strategies on how to effectively handle all of these new information outlets while upholding the corporate brand that companies have worked so hard to develop.
Companies need to monitor social media activity on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other social sites to track conversation and discussions that involve their organization. There are a number of innovative software solutions that monitor, track, listen and protect your reputation such as Radian6 (
There are also resources that provide a complete reference to companies who offer social media monitoring and analysis services such as the Guide to Social Media Analysis by Social Target LLC.
The Internet and all of the new innovative technology tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin, etc., allows us to deliver information instantly, provides us with the ability to launch new products, interact with our partners, solicit customer input, expand our sphere of influence and to develop a world-class brand image and reputation. These same tools when not monitored and tracked can destroy a company’s reputation at the speed of light.
Mortgage industry participants can no longer afford to put their heads in the sand and ignore the enormous opportunities and potential risks that these powerful social media technology innovations deliver. The key is an effective strategy that allows mortgage industry participants to maximize opportunities while minimizing risk and exposure.
Are you currently monitoring social media activity at your company? What products are you using? Do you believe that there is a need for this type of innovative technology in the mortgage industry? Do you plan to implement social monitoring?
Share with us your thoughts and opinions on social media monitoring.
For those of you who want to know what happened to those two individuals, an arrest warrant was issued for food tampering, a felony in North Carolina.
[1] Bruce Horovitz, USA Today
