Twitter is a great marketing tool for most companies. It brings recognition to your brand and allows customers to share their love for the brand. Unfortunately, the publicity that Twitter brings is not always positive. Sometimes it brings along a lot of negative attention towards a brand, ruining its reputation. Companies should take the following tips into consideration before they even create a Twitter account to advertise their brand:
1. Be vigilant – Always keep an eye on your Twitter account. It is a good idea to hire someone just to maintain your company’s Twitter, as well as to make sure that a Twitter war is discovered, and defused, in the beginning stages. People are on Twitter at all times of the day, in all time zones. So do not leave your company’s Twitter unprotected even in the middle of the night. A social media expert should be watching all of your social media accounts at all times.
2. Be knowledgeable – Do not deny anything that you do not know for sure. For example, if the Twitter war started because of a rumor about the company’s president, it is not best to deny the rumor without knowing that it is untrue for sure. Make sure that you confirm or deny the accusations through the proper sources before responding to them publicly on Twitter.
3. Have a plan –Determine a plan of action in the event that a Twitter war begins, before it happens. Every company’s marketing department should figure out their plan of attack in advance. A Twitter war can start about anything, such as rumors of sweatshops, lay-offs, or a tainted product. Try to anticipate the issues that consumers may bring up on Twitter, and figure out how your company will respond. Being proactive really does make a big difference.
4. Have a sense of humor – A lot of the time a sense of humor is the only tool that you need to disagree any argument, whether it is in face-to-face conversation or online. Take complaints seriously, but be lighthearted when appropriate.
5. Do not try to cover it up – The internet is written in ink, not pen. Whatever is posted on Twitter is there forever, whether or not you try to cover it up, make it invisible to your Twitter followers, or try to get the person to remove their negative statements. It is better to confront accusations head-on then it is to try to make the problem disappear.
A brand’s most important asset is its reputation. Once a company gets a negative reputation, it is nearly impossible to fully restore it. Some consumers will never be able to see past certain misdoings or false rumors. That does not mean that you should not attempt to mend fences, however. Sometimes an apology really does go a long way. The great thing about Twitter is that your company can respond to the consumers directly. Never underestimate the power of social media. It has been said that any publicity is good publicity, but that simply is not true when you consider the irreversible damage that a Twitter war can do.
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Sam is a social media specialist and blogger with an interest in Internet marketing. He believes there are a variety of ways to boost your ecommerce conversion rate, improving landing page design is one valuable piece.