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From Dell Hell to my own incident with the National Pork Board, there's no denying the power that social media wields when it comes to giving the "little guy/gal" a voice. Time after time we've seen Internet users turn into screaming mob ready to storm the gates of a business with virtual torches and pitch forks, all because a company wanted to save a few bucks or got a little overzealous in their exercise of corporate power. Tamar Weinberg tackles this subject today at Techipedia.
Tamar writes:
The worst possible thing you can do is to slight someone else at the expense of convenience. The result is bad publicity, regardless of the benefits you believe it yields for the short term. If you screw up, it’s a public relations nightmare. Can we say damage control?
She goes on to share a few examples of the power of online word of mouth in the fight against customer relations gone bad. (And I'm not just linking to her because she included my pork board fiasco in the mix, I was actually writing up this post as I read and was surprised to see myself mentioned.)
My favorite story (and one that I hope results in MUCH backlash) is the recent incident on Continental Airlines involving a talkative toddler.
Case #2: Continental Airlines Kicks Toddler Off Plane for Talking Too Much
Continental Airlines. Now this just disappoints me. An eighteen-month-old boy and his mother were thrown off a Continental Airlines flight because a flight attendant couldn't stand the little boy saying "bye plane" throughout her safety instruction speech. She called authorities and complained of a "passenger disturbance." The plane was then brought back to the gate. Both mother and son were escorted off the plane — and that's after they already endured an 11 hour delay to catch that flight.
Was that really an appropriate move? Not only did it make the young mother feel helpless, it also inconvenienced an entire plane full of passengers.
Continental Airlines said it will be investigating the matter.
Now more than likely, that flight attendant was having a REALLY bad day and just made a REALLY bad judgement call. Unfortunately for Continental, one bad judgement call and quickly turn into a firestorm of negative media attention as customers share the story via email, discussion forums, blogs and social media outlets.
What does this mean for your business?
Well first, it reinforces the need to carefully consider every company action. A cost-saving move that doesn't quite sit well with your "feel-good" meter may not save you as much money as you think. After all, how much will you have to spend to quiet the public relations nightmare?
Second, if you think PR refers simply to Page Rank, you'd probably better spend some time reading up on public relations and giving some thought to having a quality PR firm on retainer.
Jennifer Laycock is the Editor of Search Engine Guide, an educational web site aimed at translating the search marketing world into something that small business owners can understand. Jennifer specializes in common sense search engine marketing, viral marketing and customer outreach via social media and blogs. A former search marketing consultant and in-house trainer, Jennifer’s clients have included companies like Verizon, American Greetings and Highlights for Children. Her primary clients now are a little girl named Elnora and a little boy named Emmitt.
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