One of a company’s most valuable asset is its brand equity – that emotional connection that people have with an organization’s product/service. However, with the rapid influence of internet communities and the explosion of social media in particular, more challenges are being thrown at reputation managers and businesses alike. While some businesses are not oblivious of the obvious influence varied social media platforms are having on the growth or decline of their brands, it not unusual to see blogs, topics of forums, social networking sites and other forms of social media firing an attack on a brand/product/service. It is clear from a cross section of these platforms that though organizations are not ignoring the strength and leverage these communities offer, there seems to be a lack of strategy in dealing with these challenges.

Wishing them away might not be easy as global dimensions are reaching frightening proportions. Consider the case of Domino’s Pizza, whose brand reputation was dealt a serious blow when two annoyed employees uploaded a video on YouTube of themselves engaging in unhygienic practices (sneezing, nose picking into pastries during preparation) to rubbish their pastries. This video was eventually viewed by millions of customers and sales figures for its pizza nosedived. While BP was also battling the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Greenpeace orchestrated an online attack when it challenged the public to design a new BP logo to suit their “dirty business.” The competition garnered over 2,000 entries with damaging designs – the effects can never be wiped off the web.

As social media continues to become a vital part of most corporations, today’s businesses need to become more proactive at anticipating exploits and dealing with abuses that can tarnish their reputation and negatively impact their business operations. How can these be managed?

Have a clear social media strategy

Going online has gone far beyond the era of just developing a beautiful website. The evolving demand for online media marketing and social media engagement requires clear policies, guidelines and experienced staff that will involve employees in every aspect of your business operations – Human Resource, Customer Service, Branding and Marketing.

It also involves profiling your target audience before pouring resources into Facebook. Several PR tools will be useful in this regard. Don’t be busy spending money on ads if your audience is busy in traffic or with their phones.

Be prepared

Dealing with social media attacks require a robust crisis plan. Brand haters exist but unlike the past, a coordinated attack can easily be organized against a brand. Consider the Boycott British Airways campaign organized by the Nigerian Village Square and Respect Nigeria Coalition when officials of the UK Police forcefully ejected Ayodeji Omotade and about 136 other Nigerians from a Lagos bound flight from the UK. Thousands of online signatures were collated which later saw British Airways apologizing for its misbehavior.

When opening your brand to social media, you relinquish ownership of the brand, so before the case ever comes up you need to be sure if your agency has a community management expertise to avert or mitigate a social media crisis? Have a set of best practices been established? Think again.

Classify mud-slings and don’t fight dirty

Ok the deed is done and you have a crisis in your hands, what do you do? The next step is not to have a hurried response to your online audience. The next step is to determine the type of response necessary. It doesn’t matter the kind of crisis, one rule is critical – stay positive. Being bitter and negative about comments is the easiest way to expose your brand to bashing.

Some problems or complaints direct you to a particular challenge your customers are facing with your product/service, nicely thank them for bringing it to your notice and deal with it. If the comments are as a result of customers not understanding your methods and policies, you score a bigger point. Simply thank them and explain why you do it that way. You won’t take all suggestions, but be careful to win their loyalty and trust by being appreciative. But then some mudslings are downright dirty, they are designed to draw or bait you into an unnecessary I-am-right-get-lost fight thereby exposing you as inept and leaving your organization at the mercy of a community of angry comments and future readers of the page. Nescafe will never forget this lesson when they multiplied their challenges by mishandling Facebook attacks during protests by members of Greenpeace.

Finally, in going social, always remember a Facebook page isn’t a social media strategy. Using social media engagement strategies includes identifying your brand personality, profiling your target audience and going to engage them. If your brand is hoping to leverage on social media, it should be ready to create new teams to proactively listen, learn and engage your customers in real time. Cheers

About the Author
Deola Kayode is a Consultant at Teleios Consulting; a  Brand Consultancy with competencies in Brand Strategy, Social Media & Communication. He can be reached through deolakayode@gmail.com.

The new term said thus:

“You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof. You represent and warrant that you have all rights and permissions to grant the foregoing licenses.”

The old term (now current) says :

By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content.

The wording I think is too formal and could make a lot of people confused translation to give it. Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg wrote two blog posts here and here to clearify their stand on the issue and He has promised to keep the Trust that people have for Facebook. You can also join the Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

Many people rarely read the term of use, when they get freaky about any website they just click on. Some argued that Facebook is surpose to alert users of its new terms but, Facebook stated clearly that it’s the users’ responsibility to always check the terms for update. But, surprisingly, I got alerted on my Facebook page about the revert to old term. Good! But kind of late.

People have trust in Facebook, and that has to a large extent made it the largest Social Networking site on the internet. Obviously, Facebook is bigger than some major countries, about 175 millions user would have made it sixth biggest Country had it been a Nation state.

Next time you visit, any site, read through its Term of Use. It is the guiding principle to what the company can do to your data and how you can protect yourself.

Do you have any issue understanding term of use? Drop comment below.

It is astonishing to see the way Facebook has grown in the last six month. As at January 2008, Myspace was 19 million users more than Facebook , but by the end of 2008 (December) Facebook grew added 100 million users more than Myspace.  Unbelievable you would say! I guess Mark wouldn’t have predicted this growth.

Facebook stands currently at about 150 million active users. As at December 2008, Facebook drew about 22% internet audience. That translates to about 1 – 5 people on the internet goes to Facebook.

Myspace, launched just a month before Facebook, is said to be earning more than times 3 of Facebook earnings. People have argued over and over about Facebook monetization given the number of users it currently commands. I think Facebook is more of focusing on user generation and confidence to improve its strategies.

Facebook has really carved the top stop and remain still. Business and groups are using it more than ever before. Tell me, if you have opportunity to reach 150 million people to present your product won’t you be happy? That is what Facebook has effectively done!

Given the economic downturn worldwide, online advertisement and social medial remains most cost effective way to get your products and services accros to the people.

Nigerian social networking site should be more innovative in their service given the extent to which this niche can grow in a short while. Nigeria is still a virgin country and whoever is innovative will carry the day.

What is your view? Do you think Nigerian Social Networking site are try? Can they do something better? Share your comment.