age of Likes, comments and shares on
content that’s pushed out to your news-
feed. So what marketers need to realize is
they need to have a big number of fans,
but they also need to be posting content
that’s relevant to your audience.”
However, to ensure that messaging
will surface appropriately in the social
realm, there are certain things marketers
should avoid when using these media.
positive benefits the juice is definitely
worth the squeeze. The debate on how to
respond to criticisms persists.
Social Taboos
“Consumers shy away from what they
view as commercialism. We’ve seen clients who have tried to force their own
agenda no matter what; clients who
become enamored with themselves and
their brand as opposed to considering
what the consumer actually wants,” says
Greenfield.
Clearly when in the midst of digesting
enjoyable content from their friends and
family, a blatant marketing push stands
out like a sore thumb to most consumers. “Every once and a while you find
this magical moment where something
within a brand is actually really appealing to a consumer as well from a content
standpoint, and that’s the optimal fit. But
there are a lot of brands that are pretty
mundane products, so sometimes it is
important that you find a different path
to igniting the social atmosphere that
doesn’t requiring you forcing your product
down on them,” Greenfield adds.
Yared cautioned against monotony.
“What doesn’t work is saying the same
thing over and over again,” he says.
Yared also conveyed a marketer’s need to
realistically manage expectations. “Why
would someone spend 20 minutes on your
brand when they’ll only spend 10 seconds
on their best friend? This is a specific
medium, and there’s a specific way that
people like to engage with friends and
also entities.”
The unpredictable nature of social
media makes some markets hesitant to
join the conversation. And while having
a presence in a social space where your
users, customers and fans can interact
with you does have a certain level of
vulnerability, when it comes to social’s
To Engage or Not to Engage
“Ask yourself a few questions. For
instance, ‘Do we have the resources to
support an ongoing communication path
to consumers from a customer service
standpoint?’” Greenfield says.
Social media customer service is a
switch that, if you turn it on, you have to
be prepared to react to it on an ongoing
basis. Greenfield also cautions against
starting a dialogue. “If you’re responding
to customer service issue, make sure it
has a finality to it. The worst thing you
can do is ignite a conversation,” he says.
“Try to discern the degree of inflamma-
tion of the issue, and where appropriate,
take it offline and out of social media
and get in touch with that individual di-
rectly. Sometimes social media is a great
platform for resolving issues, and other
cases it can backfire and ignite a flurry of
additional responses that don’t go in the
right direction.”
Hayward sympathizes with brands,
admitting that response to negative chat-
ter can be dicey. “It’s actually kept a lot of
brands on the sidelines because they fear
