Guest post by Megan Totka.
Has social media ruined public relations? Can the images of business and public figures still be saved by a crisis management team? In a crisis situation, how long until people expect an answer? Can PR keep up in this online social world? These are all questions I’ll try to tackle here. The notion that social media can have a larger impact than public relations is fairly new. Many business executives see social media as an easy outlet for a business to spread positive information, but what about the flip side? Is your business prepared to avoid a PR nightmare if a customer utilizes social media? When you open your business up to millions of people, safely hidden behind their computer screens, anything and everything can be said. Is your business ready for this new PR battle?
In late January, a Midwestern mom had the horrifying task of trying to locate a source of lead in her home after her infant son was diagnosed with lead poisoning. During the examination, she used a home kit and found lead present on a bolt on a baby food blender made by Baby Bullet. After three attempts to get answers from the company via phone and email, the mom turned to social media. Baby Bullet’s Facebook page lit up. Comments were being posted every few minutes. Parents were outraged. One mom even took it a step further, using parenting blog to chronicle the full story.
It took Baby Bullet several hours to release a statement regarding the matter. They followed up with a detailed letter several days later and asked the outraged blogger mom to post their side of the story too. The entire situation was a PR mess. Something that could have easily been handled internally is now public knowledge to thousands of online users. The brand is tarnished in their minds.
Twenty years ago, this type of situation would have never happened. There wouldn’t have been a Facebook page for the mom to post on out of frustration by the lack of response. There wouldn’t have been a public forum for supporters and haters of the product to go back and forth on the significance and truth of the accusation.
Facebook and Twitter are the two most popular social media sites available today and they are leading the game of social PR trouble. Businesses have to be quick on their feet. They have to beat detractors to the punch. Someone from the business needs to respond to these big deal posts within minutes. There is no time to waste. PR teams cannot just issue a blanket statement. They have to empathize with the naysayers. They have to relate to and create solutions for the issue. Stick with basic guidelines for Facebook and Twitter. Now is not the time to go informal or rogue with your posts.
The public still wants to hear the business tell the truth, but it’s no longer just the complainer who is watching for a statement. It’s his or her hundred followers and maybe their hundreds of followers too. One tweet or one Facebook post or one trending topic is not just one complaint to your company, it’s one complaint that hundreds, or perhaps thousands of readers will see.
Social media has absolutely changed the face of public relations as we know it. This does not, however, have to be a bad thing. Stay on top of your pages. Preemptively strike with great news every once in a while to build up your name. Though a PR crisis is not quite inevitable, it’s still essential to know how to handle one if if comes your way; social media does not have to become your next nightmare.
Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com. She specializes on the topic of small business tips and resources. ChamberofCommerce.com helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 Chambers of Commerce worldwide.
iTechbook says
Best thing to get PR is to write long content thats All.
Tom says
Thanks, but I think there is a bit more to it than that. Long content is easy; producing content that stands out from the flowing torrent of mediocrity inundating the web is hard.
Web Development says
@iTechBook
Its not just content writing there are many other things taken by google when it comes to PR.
So for a better ranking we will require Quality Content than Long Content, Good One Page SEO, Manual Link Building…
If we follow just few things and keep it consistent throughout… I bet we will end up having a good PR.
Cheers,
MJ
Tom says
+ media relations, social engagement and amplification, bylined articles, optimized news releases, guest blogging, an optimized onsite media room…lots of elements.
Taavi Tammpere says
Best way is to check on Your mobile Your pages if Your on move. You can but Your Facebook app on also on mode where it makes notificasions when something happens on Your page.
Tom says
Any of the better social media monitoring tools can be set up to provide alerts as well.
Nic says
Earlier it was all about Facebook and Google was more kind of search engine now it is moving into every field. If you have a website then it should be popular in Google+ else you will loose a lot of value when it comes to SEO.
Great one n thanks for the share.
Nic
Tom says
Good tip, though getting popular in Google+ is easier said than done. Outside a few niches (e.g., NASA fans), the activity level there is just so low.