Article

Managing brand bashing on social media

For retailers, the best defense against online negativity may be your best customers.

May 5, 2010

As retailers increasingly look to social media sites to deepen interactions with consumers, there is one hazard in particular that continues to test their abilities to market in the dynamic, fragmented and real-time environment of social networks — bad buzz.

“Once a retailer is criticized on Facebook or a similar social venue, it has three basic options for dealing with the situation: respond to the criticism, stay silent (perhaps to allow loyal customers to come to its defense) or remove the negative comments when possible,” said Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report “How Retailers Handle Negative Buzz on Social Media Sites.”

One of the cornerstones of the stay-silent approach is to cultivate customer advocates. These are loyal customers ready to defend the brand when it is attacked. According to Grau, retailers can do this by granting loyal customers special privileges such as an early look at a new product or the opportunity to try a product before it’s for sale. Retailers also stage exclusive events where loyal customers can provide feedback, hear about the retailer’s plans and rub shoulders with company executives.
 
Some retailers, while hardly welcoming negative criticism, see it as learning experience and an opportunity to reconnect with valuable customers and reaffirm business values.

“They listen to what customers are saying to identify and solve problems before they balloon into much bigger issues,” Grau said. “This behavior reflects a different mind-set: Customers are not adversaries but partners to be treated with respect.”

(Image from Intersection Consulting)